John Rolfe
Starting the Tobacco Trade
Going Back to the late 1500's
In 1585, John Rolfe was born in Heacham, Norfolk, England. He's the son of John Rolfe and Dorothea Mason.
Tobacco Experiments
John Rolfe started to experiment with growing tobacco. He eventually started using seeds grown in the West Indies which led to the first profitable export in Virginia.
" Let me be condemned at the dreadful day of judgment if it is not my chief purpose to strive with all my power of body and mind in undertaking such a great thing. "
Tobacco: the first cash crop
Rolfe & His Tobacco
European Triangular Trade
Known for first successful cultivation of tobacco as an export crop in the Colony Of Virginia
John + Pocahontas
In 1614, Rolfe married Pocahontas, the daughter of the local Native American leader, Powhatan. Not much was said about their married but one significant fact about them was that she was only eleven years old when he married her.