Upon first settlement in Jamestown, English colonists were in need of a money generator. Originally, seeking help from the Native Americans, the English colonists were taught how to farm.

But the English soon wanted more than just a “part” of Indian territory. Their need for land was suddenly intensified by a new development- the cultivation of tobacco as an export crop. In 1613, the colony sent its first shipment of tobacco to London, a small but significant four barrels’ worth. The exports grew dramatically from 2,300 pounds in 1616 to 19,000 the following year, and to 60,000 by 1620. The colonists increasingly coveted

Up until the time America gained freedom from England, colonists had a prosperous economy based on their tobacco exports. However, as soon as America won its independence from England, the economy became greatly devastated. Previously, American traders did most of their importing and exporting with England. However, now England felt that if America wanted its complete freedom, they must not need them to export tobacco too; and therefore cut off all importing and exporting with America. This greatly affected Virginia tobacco planters as their British markets were now gone, and they had very little demand for their good. Problems also arose with inflated prices throughout the economy. Taxes saw a large boom leaving enormous amounts of people in vast debt. “One anguished soul complained that taxes took nearly one-third of the inhabitants’ incomes. People of modest means argued that taxes should be payable in depreciated paper money or government securities. Lacking the hard money that the state required for paying taxes, they faced property foreclosures” (Nash, 168). Because of this, many people argued that there should be a just price on market goods, fair to both the buyer and seller. “In Massachusetts, a bushel of corn that sold for less than a dollar in 1777 went for nearly $80 two years later” (Nash, 169). However, these attempts only created a lack of incentive to work, which was the primary part of wealth in America; and miserably failed. Because prices continually inflated, the poor suffered most severely, followed by farmers, merchants, planters, and artisans. “By the late 1780s, the per capita value of American exports had fallen a starling 30 percent from the 1760s” (Nash, 178). Not only did this create poverty, but a national debt t

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