Tobacco and Western Culture
The use of tobacco dates back to the 17th century. The primary reason for its beginning was purely economic at first. It later became apparent to researchers over the decades that tobacco was more than just a commodity to be traded for economic gain. It was actually a drug, nicotine, which developed into physical dependency and had adverse side effects as people began to live longer. Further research at the social level, revealed its social impact on the western culture.
It didn't take long before early traders began to realize the economic benefits of trading tobacco as a primary cash crop. Its known influences were completely overlooked to maintain the desired income and trade benefits. In western culture, early settlers, saw tobacco as a primary source of support for the family. It was entirely possible to grow tobacco and live a very good lifestyle. During the early years, tobacco was not seen as a bad thing. Instead, it was actually a way of life. As time passed, govermental agencies also began to see the economic benefits produced by the tobacco industry. Taxing the crop became very lucrative and later resulted in subsidizing the farmers as needed to maintain taxation levels. The advent of production cigarrettes soon opened doors for manufacturers which hadn't existed before. A
cheap and easy method of providing tobacco users a manageable product soon led to widespread use in the western world. This attitude soon began to change, however, as researchers began publishing reports on the ill effects of smoking and tobacco use.
Tobacco lost a lot of its social influence when people began to understand its physical effects. Tobacco use was linked with birth defects in pregnant women. Lung cancer was directly linked to smoking in 1950 by the Cancer Control Department in the New York State Health department. It became very clear that the past opposition to smoking and tobacco use was substantiated. It had also become clear that smokers were in a group alone from the rest of society. Just as other groups grew and shrank with the times, so would the smokers. Nicotine had been discovered to be the dependency factor in tobacco and soon ranked a classification with other social drugs like alcohol and caffeine. Its use was seen to be just as severe as these and warranted just as much focus in the social arena.
Tobacco is the common name of the plant Nicotiana tabacum and N. rustica, found in the Nightshade family. It is a green, leafy plant and is known for the nicotine that lies within its leaves. Tobacco has more than 70 different species, but only two are used today. The most popular is N. tabacum and it has never been found to grow in the wild. Today, tobacco is smoked, chewed, and snuffed. It is grown throughout both North and South America. In the United States, its grown in Tennessee, Kentucky, and Virginia.
Previously, there had been an intense social stigma associated with female smoking; in fact, a
America needed a more profitable product to sell than tobacco. America was looking to make itself
Tobacco did not just appear in colonial America. The tobacco plant was introduced by John Rolfe to the people of Jamestown (Nobleman 12). John Rolfe also taught the colonists how to farm tobacco (Tunis 77). Though tobacco cultivation seemed to be flourishing, consumers were still getting their tobacco from the Spanish Indies, as the Spanish Indies grew milder tobacco than America (Weeks 1). This motivated John Rolfe to sail to the Spanish Indies and confiscate some of their tobacco seeds ("The Growth of the Tobacco " 2). The tobacco from the Spanish Indies boosted the economic growth of colonial America (2). However, John Rolfe was not the first person to have tobacco in the new world. The Native Americans were the first people to cultivate and smoke tobacco and taught their trade to the Spanish (1). The ...
The tobacco industry seems like a beneficial addition to our economy. It has basically been a socially acceptable business in the past because it brings jobs to our people and tax money to the government to redistribute; but consider the cost of tobacco related treatment, mortality and disability- it exceeds the benefit to the producer by two hundred billion dollars US. (4) Tobacco is a very profitable industry determined to grow despite government loss or public health. Its history has demonstrated how money can blind morals like an addiction that is never satisfied. Past lawsuits were mostly unsuccessful because the juries blamed the smoker even though the definition of criminal negligence fits the industry’s acts perfectly. Some may argue for the industry in the name of free enterprise but since they have had such a clear understanding of the dangers of their product it changes the understanding of their business tactics and motives. The success of the industry has merely been a reflection of its immoral practices. These practices have been observed through its use of the media in regards to children, the tests that used underage smokers, the use of revenue to avoid the law, the use of nicotine manipulation and the suppression of research.
From the prohibition aspect, people figured they could make some serious money from selling it. People from all over the country were making and selling. Like all things though, there is always a very tight competition in this business. The hardest part about this competition was that it could not truly be regulated. Mob bosses wanted to help the people by giving them what they wanted, but they also wanted all the money from what they sold.
...g the 1600's, tobacco was so popular that it was even used as money. Over time it was finally realized that the use of tobacco was addictive and more hazardous to ones health than beneficial.
To summerize, the discovery of tobacco in the Americas had lasting effects on the world. Across Europe, many began smoking because of the belief that tobacco was able to cure certain ailments. Also, tobacco became a symbol of high class so we see that many middle class people began to smoke. The demand in Europe for tobacco became very high causing the production of tobacco in the Americas to increase. Colonies were set up containing large plantations with many slaves to produce tobacco. Tobacco production made the producers very rich as the cash crop was very desirable. From the use of tobacco in ceremonies for the Aztecs and Mayans to the mass production of the crop in the Americas, tobacco created much change across the world.
Borio, Gene, “Tobacco Timeline: The Twentieth Century 1900-1949—The Rise of the Cigarette.” Chapter 6. 1993-2003.
Smoking cigarettes is a detrimental practice not only to the smoker, but also to everyone around the smoker. According to an article from the American Lung Association, “Health Effects” (n.d.), “Smoking is the leading cause of preventable death in the U.S., causing over 438,000 deaths per year”. The umbrella term for tobacco use includes the use of cigarettes, cigars, e-cigs and chewing tobacco. While tobacco causes adverse health consequences, it also has been a unifying factor for change in public health. While the tobacco industries targets specific populations, public health specifically targets smokers, possible smokers, and the public to influence cessation, policies and education.
Every year cigarette smoking is responsible for 500,000 premature deaths (Nugel), you do not want to be just another statistic, do you? America’s first cash crop was tobacco. That means that tobacco has been around for a really long time. It was not until 1865, though, that cigarettes were sold commercially. They were sold to soldiers at the end of the Civil War (Dowshen). From then, cigarettes spread like wildfire, and it was not until 1964 that anyone made a stand about the negative effects of tobacco and cigarettes. People start smoking for all different reasons, some to fit in and some to “escape”. Regardless, it is a horrible habit. 3900 children will try their first cigarette today. Amongst adults who currently smoke, 68% of them began at age 18 or younger, and 85% at 21 or younger (American Lung Association). And of all those people, 70% say if they were given another chance they would never have picked up that first cigarette (Tobacco Free Maine). Smoking is responsible for 1 and 5 deaths in the united states, and is the number one preventable cause of death (NLH). Smoking burns and there is no doubt about that, but before one picks up that cigarette, understand the negative effects on not only oneself, but others affected by ones poor choices, like second-hand smoke. Because of smoking cigarettes, many types of cancer, decrease of life quality, and negative health effects have become all too common in the world today.
The history of chewing tobacco is sweet and simple. Native americans were the first to introduce the use of chewing “tobacco” to the europeans. They would take green leaves and crush up a shell of a mussel then mix that into the green leaf to make the chew (History of Chew). In 1822 George weyman started to produce Copenhagen. He started out making
The central point the author drives home is that at the turn of the twentieth century, cigarette smoking was not deemed an acceptable practice for middle or upper class men in the United States. The author states that there were numerous factors, each seemingly more extreme than the last, that lead to the acceptance
Tobacco use causes a number of diseases. Smoking causes cancer, heart disease, stroke, and causes lung diseases. Tobacco can lead to someone losing limbs and...
Although it is beneficial for the economy for the production of tobacco products it is extremely risky to use the product. According to researchers second-hand smoke is terrible for everyone in the world who walk by someone who is exhaling. In the article by Robert Proctor “Why ban the sale of cigarettes? The case for abolition” he states that cigarettes are the “most deadl...