Introduction and Social Aspects
Portrait of man smoking tobacco in the 1800s England
The evolution of tobacco starts from its early use by the Native Americans in ceremonies, or for medicine, and pleasure. In the Americas, the Natives were quick to indulge upon the relaxing, increased energy, and mood enhancement properties of tobacco. They started to grow and trade this product for a couple hundred years before it gained popularity in Europe and especially in London to the Crown. It was seen as a poor man's drug to the British who saw the Western Colonies and Indigenous peoples taking part in the nicotine “high”.
It did not appeal at first in England for a variety of reasons, one of which being religious stigmas. The methods for smoking were also changing rapidly with new technology coming out for ease. The drug was introduced to the Americas by Indigenous tribes and the racist undertones of uncivilized people practicing and using tobacco was one of the turn offs for royals. The English equivalent to the types of people who would be smoking or using tobacco were the merchants, working man, or farmers because it was fairly cheap to make and pretty cheap to buy. People could also adapt and make their own smoking devices without having to pay a second party. 1
Early advirtsement for tobacco peaked interests and consumers were questioning what the feeling of the drug would do to their bodies and mind. The fear as well as the relgious cognitation was that the drug was evil or unpure. The influence of high society men and women going to fancy clubs to smoke or be social with the drug helped bring around the country. 5
1 Clarke, Adam, James Hamilton, and Cornelius S. Van Winkle. A Dissertation on the Use and Abuse of Tobacco. Wherein the Advantages and Disadvantages Attending the Consumption of That Entertaining Weed Are Particularly Considered: Humbly Addressed to All Tobacco Consumers, but Especially to Those Among Religious People. 1819.
2. Robert, Joseph. (2019) 2019. Tobacco. Red Kestrel Books. https://www.perlego.com/book/3019718/tobacco-the-story-of-tobacco-before-the-coming-of-the-white-man-pdf.