American Tobacco and European Consumers

In this reading, "American Tobacco and European Consumers" the author emphasizes about how tobacco altered European culture. First he says how it made a big impact on Europe economically. Tobacco was the most consumed product in the seventeenth century. It wasn't cheap and a lot of people smoked a lot of the product, making a lot of money for tobacco farmers and sellers. Then he makes the point that tobacco begun a lot of new industries. For example, by 1700 England imported nearly 40 million pounds of tobacco to Chesapeake which makes a lot of work for people. Then you also have to take into consideration products to smoke out of, pipes, pipe cleaners, and tins to hold their tobacco. He also shows that tobacco formed new social life, and habits. Tobacco smokers got together and created clubs to smoke tobacco and some clubs enjoyed the intoxicating weed. People smoked in taverns, at the dinner table, in bed it was an everyday thing. The Europeans were hooked to tobacco very quickly and it changed their society drastically.