Editing Tobacco (section)

===Popularization===
[[File:A Smoking Club.jpeg|thumb|An illustration from [[Frederick William Fairholt]]'s ''Tobacco, its History and Association'', 1859]]
[[File:KITLV - 26868 - Kleingrothe, C.J. - Medan - Tobacco plant and tobacco leaf, Deli - circa 1905.tif|thumb|Tobacco plant and tobacco leaf from the [[Deli Company|Deli plantations]] in Sumatra, 1905]]
Following the arrival of the Europeans to the Americas, tobacco became increasingly popular as a trade item. [[Francisco Hernández de Toledo]], Spanish chronicler of the Indies, was the first European to bring tobacco seeds to the [[Old World]] in 1559 following orders of King [[Philip II of Spain]]. These seeds were planted in the outskirts of [[Toledo, Spain|Toledo]], more specifically in an area known as "Los Cigarrales" named after the continuous plagues of cicadas (''cigarras'' in Spanish). Before the development of the lighter Virginia and white burley strains of tobacco, the smoke was too harsh to be inhaled. Small quantities were smoked at a time, using a pipe like the ''[[midwakh]]'' or ''[[kiseru]],'' or newly invented waterpipes such as the [[bong]] or the [[hookah]] (see [[Nicotiana rustica#Vietnam|thuốc lào]] for a modern continuance of this practice). Tobacco became so popular that the English colony of Jamestown used it as currency and began exporting it as a cash crop; tobacco is often credited as being the export that saved Virginia from ruin.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Relentless Revolution: A History of Capitalism|last=Appleby|first=Joyce|publisher=W.W. Norton & Company|year=2010|pages=131}}</ref> While a lucrative product, the growing expansion of tobacco demand was intimately tied to the history of [[slavery]] in the Caribbean.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Tobacco and slavery : a neverending history |url=https://www.medicusmundi.ch/de/advocacy/publikationen/mms-bulletin/fighting-tobacco-in-lmic/kapitel-3/tobacco-and-slavery-a-neverending-history |access-date=2024-07-11 |website=www.medicusmundi.ch |language=de}}</ref>

The alleged benefits of tobacco also contributed to its success. The astronomer [[Thomas Harriot]], who accompanied [[Sir Richard Grenville]] on his 1585 expedition to [[Roanoke Island]], thought that the plant "openeth all the pores and passages of the body" so that the bodies of the natives "are notably preserved in health, and know not many grievous diseases, wherewithal we in England are often times afflicted."<ref>{{Cite report |url=https://www.gutenberg.org/files/4247/4247-h/4247-h.htm |title=A BRIEFE AND TRUE REPORT OF THE NEW FOUND LAND OF VIRGINIA |last=Hariot |first=Thomas |date=1590 |publisher=[[Project Gutenberg]]}}</ref>

Production of tobacco for smoking, chewing, and snuffing became a major industry in Europe and its colonies by 1700.<ref>Eric Burns, ''The Smoke of the Gods: A Social History of Tobacco'' (2006), A popular history focused on the US.</ref><ref>Jordan Goodman, ''Tobacco in History: The Cultures of Dependence'' (1993), A scholarly history worldwide.</ref>

Tobacco has been a major [[cash crop]] in Cuba and in other parts of the Caribbean since the 18th century. Cuban cigars are world-famous.<ref>Charlotte Cosner, ''The Golden Leaf: How Tobacco Shaped Cuba and the Atlantic World'' (Vanderbilt University Press; 2015)</ref>

In the late 19th century, cigarettes became popular. [[James Bonsack]] invented a machine to automate cigarette production. This increase in production allowed tremendous growth in the [[tobacco industry]] until the health revelations of the late 20th century.<ref>Richard Kluger, ''Ashes to Ashes: America's Hundred-Year Cigarette War'' (1996)</ref><ref>Allan Brandt, ''The Cigarette Century: The Rise, Fall, and Deadly Persistence of the Product That Defined America'' (2007)</ref>