Instructions: Identify the Following

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The Answer is John Rolfe was an English settler in the early 17th century who is best known for his role in the cultivation of tobacco as a cash crop in the Colony of Virginia. Born around 1585, Rolfe is significant for several reasons, including his marriage to Pocahontas, a Native American woman who was the daughter of Powhatan, the paramount chief of a network of tributary tribal nations in the Tsenacommacah, encompassing the Tidewater region of Virginia.

However, Rolfe's primary contribution to the development of the English colonies in North America was his experimentation with tobacco. Before Rolfe's introduction of a new tobacco strain, the native tobacco found in Virginia was not favored by Europeans due to its harsh taste. In 1612, Rolfe began cultivating Nicotiana tabacum, a sweeter variety of tobacco he obtained from the Spanish colonies—possibly Trinidad or Venezuela. This variety was more similar to the tobacco that was popular in Europe at the time.

Rolfe's successful cultivation of this new tobacco strain transformed the economy of Virginia. Tobacco quickly became a highly profitable export, and its cultivation spread rapidly throughout the colony. This development had profound implications: it led to the establishment of the plantation system, increased the demand for labor (which was initially met by indentured servants and later by enslaved Africans), and contributed to the economic viability and eventual success of the English colonies in North America.

John Rolfe's first successful harvest of tobacco was in 1614, and by the 1620s, tobacco had become Virginia's largest export. The crop played a crucial role in the economic survival and growth of the colony, and it also had a significant impact on the social and political structures of colonial Virginia and the development of the Southern United States.

Rolfe's marriage to Pocahontas in 1614 was also significant as it resulted in a period of peace between the English settlers and the Powhatan Confederacy. Pocahontas's conversion to Christianity and her marriage were used by the Virginia Company to promote the colony in England as a place of opportunity and harmonious relations with Native Americans.

John Rolfe died in 1622, but his legacy lived on through the establishment of tobacco as a staple of the American economy and the complex societal changes that the tobacco economy precipitated.

Instructions: Identify the Following

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