AHC: Cannabis Sativa the #1 Cash Crop for Colonial America

Historically speaking hemp was a widely grown and used product in colonial America largely thanks to its ubiquity in ship-building. The USS Constitution is an excellent example with over 120,000 pounds of hemp going into her construction in everything from sails and rope to caulking to keep the hull watertight. In fact all British colonies in this period and the early American republic required hemp to be grown for these very reasons with Washington and Jefferson being confirmed as having grown hemp on their plantations.

Given that the crop was definitely grown in colonial America what kind of PoD would be necessary to make cannabis sativa the #1 export cash crop for colonial American and the early republic, displacing tobacco and cotton until at least 1812?
 
Historically speaking hemp was a widely grown and used product in colonial America largely thanks to its ubiquity in ship-building. The USS Constitution is an excellent example with over 120,000 pounds of hemp going into her construction in everything from sails and rope to caulking to keep the hull watertight. In fact all British colonies in this period and the early American republic required hemp to be grown for these very reasons with Washington and Jefferson being confirmed as having grown hemp on their plantations.

Given that the crop was definitely grown in colonial America what kind of PoD would be necessary to make cannabis sativa the #1 export cash crop for colonial American and the early republic, displacing tobacco and cotton until at least 1812?

Well, I guess you could try making hemp more popular amongst yeoman farmers....I mean, this was already true to a fair degree IOTL, but you could make it even more so, perhaps by making more public connections to Jefferson the other Founders who grew the stuff, for starters.

[As for the psychoactive stuff, though, it should be noted that it wasn't introduced on a truly national scale until well after the Civil War, and I'm afraid any introduction on that scale before significant contact with Mexico isn't likely(though not impossible, either).]

However, though, once slavery starts booming, hemp is definitely liable to see a significant decline as it did IOTL; I'd say that you might be able to keep it going up until around 1830-35 or so at the latest, before tobacco and cotton eventually gain the upper edge, at least for a while.
 
What if, and this involves some suspension of disbelief here but it would be interesting to toy with, Sir Walter Raleigh somehow discoveries the psychoactive properties and, coupled with all the awesome maritime ones, uses that as the foundation of growing it as a cash crop instead of tobacco to make the Virginia colony self-sustaining?
 
Given that the crop was definitely grown in colonial America what kind of PoD would be necessary to make cannabis sativa the #1 export cash crop for colonial American and the early republic, displacing tobacco and cotton until at least 1812?

Enough hemp/cannabis to be more profitable than tobacco and cotton? You are talking a stoned, stoned world.

"If you can remember the 1790s, you weren't really there!"

- "Baked Tommy" Jefferson in "Taking the High Road", his best-selling reminisces of a very slow, erratic road trip from Boston, Massachussets to Augusta, Georgia, travelling with the rest of the Stoner Boyz: John "Ripped Quince" Adams, Andy "Jumping Jackson", and Roamin' Jimmy*

* Better known for promulgating the Monroe Doctrine that replaced property qualifications for the franchise with the "three-plant minimum" qualification, and thus ushered in the "Era of Good Feelings"
 
Enough hemp/cannabis to be more profitable than tobacco and cotton? You are talking a stoned, stoned world.

"If you can remember the 1790s, you weren't really there!"

- "Baked Tommy" Jefferson in "Taking the High Road", his best-selling reminisces of a very slow, erratic road trip from Boston, Massachussets to Augusta, Georgia, travelling with the rest of the Stoner Boyz: John "Ripped Quince" Adams, Andy "Jumping Jackson", and Roamin' Jimmy*

* Better known for promulgating the Monroe Doctrine that replaced property qualifications for the franchise with the "three-plant minimum" qualification, and thus ushered in the "Era of Good Feelings"

And this is a problem...how? ;)
 
Enough hemp/cannabis to be more profitable than tobacco and cotton? You are talking a stoned, stoned world.

"If you can remember the 1790s, you weren't really there!"

- "Baked Tommy" Jefferson in "Taking the High Road", his best-selling reminisces of a very slow, erratic road trip from Boston, Massachussets to Augusta, Georgia, travelling with the rest of the Stoner Boyz: John "Ripped Quince" Adams, Andy "Jumping Jackson", and Roamin' Jimmy*

* Better known for promulgating the Monroe Doctrine that replaced property qualifications for the franchise with the "three-plant minimum" qualification, and thus ushered in the "Era of Good Feelings"

I'm seeing no downside here :cool:

And who knows, all that weed could completely butterfly away the constant warfare of the 18th century because everyone would be too stoned talking philosophy or just plain bullshitting to get around to it :D

I'd also imagine with hemp being MUCH less labor intensive than tobacco or cotton that could seriously delay or even derail the widespread adoption of slavery.
 
Enough hemp/cannabis to be more profitable than tobacco and cotton? You are talking a stoned, stoned world.

"If you can remember the 1790s, you weren't really there!"

- "Baked Tommy" Jefferson in "Taking the High Road", his best-selling reminisces of a very slow, erratic road trip from Boston, Massachussets to Augusta, Georgia, travelling with the rest of the Stoner Boyz: John "Ripped Quince" Adams, Andy "Jumping Jackson", and Roamin' Jimmy*

* Better known for promulgating the Monroe Doctrine that replaced property qualifications for the franchise with the "three-plant minimum" qualification, and thus ushered in the "Era of Good Feelings"

I had to admit, you made me chuckle with that one. :cool::)
 
Enough hemp/cannabis to be more profitable than tobacco and cotton? You are talking a stoned, stoned world.

"If you can remember the 1790s, you weren't really there!"

- "Baked Tommy" Jefferson in "Taking the High Road", his best-selling reminisces of a very slow, erratic road trip from Boston, Massachussets to Augusta, Georgia, travelling with the rest of the Stoner Boyz: John "Ripped Quince" Adams, Andy "Jumping Jackson", and Roamin' Jimmy*

* Better known for promulgating the Monroe Doctrine that replaced property qualifications for the franchise with the "three-plant minimum" qualification, and thus ushered in the "Era of Good Feelings"

OMG, that is one of the funniest things I've read on here in a while!
 
What if, and this involves some suspension of disbelief here but it would be interesting to toy with, Sir Walter Raleigh somehow discoveries the psychoactive properties and, coupled with all the awesome maritime ones, uses that as the foundation of growing it as a cash crop instead of tobacco to make the Virginia colony self-sustaining?

I wonder how this would effect that the Enlightenment Coffee House culture would be awesome! :)
 
"Lord Packenham, pass the hashish, if you pleaseth."

"Quite. I feel a sudden extra-ordinary pang of hunger. I... I needeth to sate mine muchies, sire! Off to the White Castle!"



On a side note, this thread reminds me of an idea I had for a Victorian biker gangs on penny farthing bicycles ASB TL. :p
 
"Lord Packenham, pass the hashish, if you pleaseth."

"Quite. I feel a sudden extra-ordinary pang of hunger. I... I needeth to sate mine muchies, sire! Off to the White Castle!"



On a side note, this thread reminds me of an idea I had for a Victorian biker gangs on penny farthing bicycles ASB TL. :p

That'd be fun to see, if you're willing to write a story like that. :)
 

katchen

Banned
Cannabis the gateway drug to Opium

I think I've figured out how to get the TL going. Either Moroccan Sale" Raiders attempt to raid Virginia or one of the Carolinas, get the worst of it and get sold as slaves, knowing what can be done with hemp. Or conversely---- the Royal Navy mounts a series of punitive raids against Morocco and Algiers, Tunis and Tripoli in reprisal for Barbary corsair raids on English towns. Arabs are taken as slaves and sold at auction in the New World. They know the psychoactive, painkilling and yes, medical properties of hemp and how to cultivate hemp for both THC and cannibinol---and yes, how to distill hashish from hemp.
Cannabis also becomes a valuable trade good with the Indians. And unlike alcohol, cannabis does not totally wreck Native American society. so that the Native Americans learn to cultivate cannabis themselves.
Why stop at cannabis though?
Once cannabis catches on, towards the end of the 18th Century, the BEIC may well contract with Carolina planters to grow opium, both for European and the Chinese market, both straight and as opiated hashish. (Samuel Coleridge will definitely enjoy this!):D:D( One thing that isn't well known is that opium poppies can grow in relatively temperate climates--like Tasmania)
If the BEIC is growing opium in the Colonies, the Colonials will have a vested interest in the BEIC. This will butterfly away the Boston Tea Party, create an Opium Interest in Parliament similar to the West Indian Sugar Interest and may well butterfly away the cause for Independence for the Colonies at all. Funny how things can work out ATL.:rolleyes:
.
 
1) hemp grows well in Europe. If you want hash or reefers you can grow your own. No need to import it from across the ocean.
2) as for opium, it WAS consumed widely in Britain. The 'laudanum' you read about in so many novels is an opim tincture.
 
Aren't cash crops stuff that's grown for nothing important?

Hemp certainly wouldn't be wasted on smoking. As was mentioned, it was used to make ropes, sails and other things.
 
Aren't cash crops stuff that's grown for nothing important?

Hemp certainly wouldn't be wasted on smoking. As was mentioned, it was used to make ropes, sails and other things.

I would call cotton pretty important and that was definitely a cash crop. But the other point of cash crops was that they are supposed to be rare and hard to grow outside of specific climates. Thats definitely unlike Hemp which grew easily in Europe, the Middle East and East Asia so there are already plenty of sources and a pretty established market for it.
 

katchen

Banned
A cash crop is any agricultural product that landowners and farmers (who aren't always the same people) can make money on. From the 12th Century on, England had a very lucrative cash crop that drove a lot of peasants off the land---wool. Even though sheep could be raised just about anywhere in Europe.
 
was the hemp grown to make rope and stuff the same plant as the illegal one so many love to partake in? I had the idea that they were two different things. If not... then yeah, how long until someone discovers hemp's other use...
 
was the hemp grown to make rope and stuff the same plant as the illegal one so many love to partake in? I had the idea that they were two different things. If not... then yeah, how long until someone discovers hemp's other use...

1) same species, different variety.
2) what makes you think people didnt know about other uses? Assassin = hashish user etymologically. Bhang was well known in India. ?...
 

katchen

Banned
It's enough to make me wonder why hemp smoking (or cannabis pastries) DIDN"T catch on in Europe in the 17th-19th Centuries.
 
Top