Asked by Raylee Warren on Jun 12, 2024
Verified
The spread of tobacco farming in seventeenth-century Virginia
A) discouraged land speculation and reduced the demand for field labor.
B) led to a decline in profits for the colonial government and the crown.
C) helped to create a highly unequal society, dominated economically and politically by an elite plantation-owning class.
D) led to a remarkably equal, socially unified society, centered on networks of closely connected towns.
E) impoverished the landholding elite and allowed poor laborers to acquire most of the land.
Tobacco Farming
The cultivation of tobacco plants for the production of cigarettes, cigars, and other tobacco products, historically a significant agricultural activity in the southern United States.
Seventeenth-Century Virginia
Refers to the English colony in North America during the 1600s, a period of early settlement, tobacco cultivation, and African enslavement.
Elite Plantation-Owning Class
Refers to the class of individuals or families who owned large areas of land used for agricultural production, specifically plantations, which often relied on enslaved labor in pre-Civil War America and other colonial contexts.
- Describe the economic and social consequences of tobacco cultivation in seventeenth-century Virginia.
Verified Answer
CB
Cortney BooneJun 15, 2024
Final Answer :
C
Explanation :
The spread of tobacco farming in seventeenth-century Virginia led to the creation of a highly unequal society, dominated economically and politically by an elite plantation-owning class. Tobacco production required large tracts of land and intensive labor, leading to the concentration of landholdings in the hands of a few wealthy planters who controlled the colonial government and the local economy. This created a social hierarchy in which the majority of the population consisted of poor, landless laborers who were reliant on the tobacco planters for employment and livelihood. Thus, option C is the best answer.
Learning Objectives
- Describe the economic and social consequences of tobacco cultivation in seventeenth-century Virginia.