Colombian Exchange

Tobacco and Tea affected the commercial world extensively, in which tobacco and tea were major trade items and lucrative commodities for economies around the world. Tobacco Revolutionized the Americas as a major country in the world trade system, influencing many people to settle in various regions and prosper; it even influenced changes in Russia. Tea, due to its rarity, played major roles in several conflicts such as the American Revolution and the Anglo-Chinese Opium Wars; in addition, it became a symbol of preeminence in the European and American upper class.

Tobacco affected the economies of many trading regions, as it was a commodity that revolutionized the trade system and countries as well. Tobacco, a plant that is grown in North and South America relatively, was first believed to be discovered around the foundation period; in 6000 B.C.E. American Indians used tobacco in many different ways, in which it was utilized as a key component in religious rituals and medicinal practices. Indians used Tobacco as an offering to their deities and spirits of nature, hopping that they would in return, protect them from danger. Furthermore, Tobacco was believed to be a curing mechanism, and was used to as pain killers and aided wounds. Its evolution as a commodity transformed the Americas because it provided an opportunity for many people to make money and at the same time own acres of land. This became an incentive for English citizens to move to Virginia which later evolved into colonies and trading ports. It specially developed a plantation based economy, which it harbored most of its money from the trade of tobacco. This made it possible for the European social structure to duplicate and extend to the south of the colonies. With an increase in plantations and tobacco field, the use of slaves increased. This was a correlation that went on for centuries. As trade increased, more money was gained, with more money comes more tobacco and with more tobacco comes more workers, in this situation, slaves. This eventually led to the start of the transatlantic slave trade. Since Virginia was more of a trading region that highly depended on slaves and it would make them more of a "periphery" expanse than "core." In the contrary, Peter the Great authorized the sale of European tobacco in Russia. This increased the sale of tobacco and therefore the need for slave labor in the tobacco colonies of Maryland, Virginia and North Carolina.

Tea became a major repute icon among the European and American upper class because of its cost and rarity. Tea was so expensive and scarce that only the upper-class party was able to afford it, ranging from $100-$ 130 per pound. Tea however played a major role in the American Revolution. The Boston Tea Party was an important event, in which people dumped barrels of tea into the harbor to show their anguish towards unfair tea tax. The Anglo-Chinese Wars, fought by the United Kingdom and the Qing