Tobacco is derived from the leaves of the nicotiana plant which is of the nightshade family and indigenous to America. Reportedly, archaeological studies suggest people used tobacco in or around the first century bc, perhaps later. According to the report, maya people of Guatemala and Mexico used tobacco leaves for smoking in sacred and religious ceremonies, and the use spread throughout America. Tobacco was sometimes used in pipes of peace to seal treaties, or for religious effect.
In the 15th Century, explorer Christopher Columbus noticed that dried tobacco leaves were a possession to barter or bestow as a gift. He brought some home to England. Reportedly, chewing tobacco became very popular, and tobacco became one of the primary products fuelling colonisation.
According to a report, in 1609 John Rolfe an english colonist arrived in Virginia, he married Pokahontas, a native american and daughter of the chief of the Tidewater region in what is now Virginia. Reportedly, in Walt Disney’s film, Pokahontas II, Journey to a new world, Billy Zane is the voice of John Rolfe who was the first person to grow tobacco successfully for commercial use. According to the report, by 1620, 18,000 kg of tobacco was shipped to England and tobacco production led to the first importation of african slaves.
Reportedly, in 1881 James Bonsack invented a cigarette making machine, he went into business and the american tobacco company was born, survives today as british american tobacco, a global company with reported revenues of 13,104 billion in 2015.