<P> In America, gold and silver became scarce which made it harder for colonists to trade with Native Americans . The cultivation of tobacco in the Chesapeake area was essential to solving this problem . Without silver and gold to trade to the Indians, colonists traded tobacco for essential natural resources . This started in the 1620s . Tobacco was also used as a currency in the colonies, used for paying fines, taxes, and even marriage licenses . </P> <P> The increasing demand for tobacco in Europe fueled the slave trade . In the colonies land was at a premium because tobacco required lots of land to cultivate . This created a problem for the institutionalized practice of indentured servitude . Indentured servants were promised land of various amounts in their contracts . This land became harder to part with due to tobacco . </P> <P> The uncultivated Virginia soil was reportedly too rich for traditional European crops, especially cereals like barley . Tobacco "broke down the fields and made food crops more productive" by depleting the soil of nutrients . </P> <P> With the profitability of the land rapidly increasing, it no longer was economically viable to bring in indentured servants because they were promised physical benefits at the end of their tenure . What the plantation owners wanted was workers who could legally not be paid and would be able to work long hours in the hot sun . Their conclusion was to turn to another institutionalized practice: slavery . The demand and profitability of tobacco led to the shift in the colonies to a slave based labor force . Tobacco is a labor - intensive crop, requiring lots of work for its cultivation, harvest, and curing . These tasks were carried out during the colonial period by slaves . </P>

Who brought back tobacco from the west indies