Pipe of Indulgence
Christopher Columbus had located the American continents by 1492 in an expedition funded by the Spanish crown. Not too soon after, many European nations such as France, Portugal, the Netherlands, and England joined Spain in establishing colonies in North and South America. These new world colonies would export various rare and unknown materials to their mother nations. England's American Colonies quickly became renowned for various cash crops such as indigo, sugar, rice, and most notably tobacco, with tobacco quickly becoming British America's top export. British America exported these cash crops as well as manufactured goods to England, but after the start of the English Civil War in 1642, many British Americans started to open trade with other Europeans such as the French and the Dutch. At the conclusion of the English Civil War, the English government passed the Navigation Acts of 1651, which was a series of legislation that forbade any of England's colonies from trading with any other European powers. As the population of British America increased, and the production of American goods continued to climb, American cash crops and manufactured goods began to become staple commodities in English society and culture. Though usually reserved for the upper classes, as time went on Tobacco became more and more of an important commodity within England, and many works from the time period would reflect the importance of Tobacco on English society. A prime example of this would be the before mentioned A Pipe of Tobacco which parodied many contemporary poets by replacing their themes with the theme of Tobacco. The Navigation Acts of 1651, changed England's culture forever by forcibly introducing Colonial products into British society, having a rippling effect on England's culture forever.
The book A Pipe of Tobacco is split into six sections, with each section containing an imitation of previous works from the above-mentioned contemporary poets. Imitation I appears to be the main poem in the book, as it's the only poem to have a title, being A New-Year's Ode. A New-Years Ode is also the only poem in the book to have a shifting metrical foot type and a metrical foot number, with these shifts being the foot type constantly changing from iambic to trochaic, as well as the foot number changing from pentameter to tetrameter often throughout the poem. The opening lines of A New-Years Ode reference battles and horror, which is contrasted with the next few lines referencing tobacco as a blessing of peace, continuing by asking if any nation has ever been blessed as England to have access to new world exports. The poem references the Virginia Fleets and how the British fleet protects the commercial ships. The sense is that the Atlantic Ocean had been subjugated by the British fleet, alluding to the success of the Triangular trade towards the economy of Britain. Finally, the poem ends with acknowledging the importance of a strong naval presence, as while other European powers fight amongst themselves, the British have the opportunity to live safely on their island with no worry but to smoke and drink.
Imitation II, Imitation III, and Imitation V all reference the pleasures that come with tobacco, all containing many lines that state tobacco in a positive light. Imitation II highlights its idea with many of the lines within the poetry. Lines such as "Little Tube of mighty power, charmer of an idle Hour" and "happy thrice, and thrice again, happiest he of happy men" allow the reader picturesque commentary which provides insight towards the perception of tobacco as a luxury and as a relief of the mind. This theme continues in Imitation III, which calls Tobacco a
It is easy to associate these lines with the relaxation that comes with the smoking of tobacco products. Tobacco was a key element in the lives of aristocrats and enlightenment philosophers both in Britain and in her Colonial possessions, and because of this, it was sought out similarly to how a nice whiskey would be sought out. It is no secret many notable figures of this time period had a huge investment in tobacco, with well-known examples including Thomas Jefferson and George Washington who both personally owned tobacco plantations. Imitation V continues in light of Imitation II and III, naming Tobacco "Europes' last peace, when all statesmen fail." This theme seems to be open to much interpretation, but I believe that it can allude to the fact that many enlightenment progressives would be able to deter war with their philosophies, in which these ideas were being supported by tobacco consumption."fountain pure of limpid truth that looks at the very soul with each puff allowing imagination to burn".
Finally, Imitation IV and Imitation VI give the reader a sense of Tobaccos's role in English culture, and some of the stigmas surrounding tobacco domestically and internationally. Imitation IV goes into great detail showing some of the stigmas within English society towards tobacco consumption. Imitation IV states that women despise tobacco for the smell that it causes, going further as to say pipes affect women much stronger than they do men, and that women would rather gossip about the town's drama than smoke from the pipe. Besides the smell and other points that get mentioned as the deterrents of smoking include bad teeth and bad breath. Browne counters this further in the poem by calling those who do not smoke "from the leaf of knowledge" as ignorant and later states how the hypocrisy of those who despise smoking, yet continue to drink heavily. Through this, we see some of the stigmas within English society regarding tobacco consumption in play. Women were often not included among tobacco consumers as some women loathed the properties of the substance, while many others were neglected the opportunity to partake in smoking as it was seen more as a gentlemen's activity. We also see recognition of some of the negatve traits associated with smoking such as bad breath and teeth. Many people considered tobacco healthy at the time, thus the recognition of negative traits is an interesting thing to point out especially considering Brown's bias towards Tobacco consumption. Lastly, Imitation VI gives us a glance at tobaccos' role on British nationalism and identity. French America had become well known for its exportation of beaver furs, while Spanish America regularly exported large shipments of gold and silver back to mainland Spain. British America had become renown for its cash crops and because of the Navigation Acts of 1651, Colonial products could only travel between English territories for trade. This caused certain crops such as indigo and tobacco to become mostly unique to Britain and this helped in shaping national identity for British people. In Imitation VI, Browne thanks the queen for tobacco exportation to Britain. In another line, Browne suggests that he cares not for what the French or the Spanish are doing, but instead encourages Britain to continue in its direction, stating in the final line of the book.
"Britons, if undone, can go, Wherer tobacco loves to grow."
Through A Pipe of Tobacco and its six Imitation poems, we get the sense of the impact of colonial exports within English society. The new world exports from British America changed English culture forever, and because of the Navigation acts of 1651, an abundance of colonial cash crops and manufactured goods became ingrained within English society forever. Imitation I, II, III, and V provide a great understanding of the pleasure that comes with smoking tobacco, and the desire for aristocrats to obtain tobacco products. Imitation IV and VI provide a greater context for how tobacco influenced English society, as the stigma that surrounded tobacco was that it was reserved for the upper classes and only for men. It also became a symbol of British identity, giving us a better idea of tobacco's role in British society. The navigation acts would eventually create enough discontent among colonial farmers and workmen to help ignite the American Revolutionary War, which would be led by many tobacco producers such as George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. Despite this, the demand for American products would continue to grow, and as Britain continued to grow her empire, rare exports from obscure corners of the earth would continue to shape British society. By the time of Industrialism, Britain's drive for valuable resources would eventually drive the British to create the largest empire the world has ever seen.
Works cited
Browne, Isaac. A Pipe of Tobacco. pp. 1-23. 1736. https://calisphere.org/item/ark:/21198/n1d59k/.Nettles, Curtis P. "British Mercantilism and the Economic Development of the Thirteen Colonies". The Journal of Economic History.
Vol. 12, No. 2 (Spring, 1952). pp. 105-114. https://www.jstor.org/stable/2113218?read-now=1&refreqid=excelsior%3A1bb07dfbb98547d697792b155278cdb5&seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents
Molineux, Catherine. "Pleasures of the Smoke: "Black Virginians" in Georgian London's Tobacco Shops".
The William and Mary Quarterly. Third Series, Vol. 64, No. 2 (Apr., 2007). pp. 327-376. https://www.jstor.org/stable/4491624?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents
Graebner, Norman A. "The Illinois Country and the Treaty of Paris of 1783". Illinois Historical Journal. Vol. 78, No. 1 (Spring, 1985). pp. 2-16. https://www.jstor.org/stable/40191818?read now=1&refreqid=excelsior%3Ac6c556363f130d994281fb9e0e7f8da1&seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents
