Jamestown, founded by the London Company in 1607, was the first permanent English colony established in America. The colonies began as a disaster, “in the first ten years of Jamestown's history almost everyone died horribly… the inhabitants of Jamestown did not fare well” (Ripper, 2008). They were starving or dying from fighting with Native Americans. Jamestown found salvation through tobacco, a plant native to the Americas. Whales were also an abundant source of money. This led to slavery becoming a huge business as the colonies needed people to work for them on plantations and in many other fields. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Tobacco was first introduced to Europeans by Native Americans. It can be argued that without England's interest in tobacco and the potential money within the business, the colonies would not have grown into what is now the United States of America. As Ripper stated, “If John Smith and Pocahontas saved Jamestown, John Rolfe's belief in smokable and snortable leafy vegetables meant that England had struck gold after all: green gold” (Ripper, 2008 ). The tobacco industry grew rapidly, as did its need for workers, thus introducing slaves. Whales also represented a huge source of income for many. Whales were often hunted and could occasionally be found stranded. Whale blubber was used to create oil, and whales that had a lot of blubber to keep them warm produced a lot of oil. Whale baleen was also used. They were later used in women's clothing: "In its most common use, baleen gave structure to women's underwear" (Common, 2008). Considering the whales weighed a lot, that was a lot of oil and baleen. With all the work to do, they needed cheap labor, and this is where slavery came into play. Of course, there were indentured servants, they were people who wanted to start a new life or get to the colonies, so they sold their service for a certain period. Slaves, on the other hand, were more expensive but worked indefinitely, because they were purchased. Even slaves retained their value, they could be resold for a price greater than or equal to that for which they had been purchased. Subsequently, hereditary slavery also became established, only African-American slaves were subject to it, but this meant that their children would also become slaves. Slavery was the harshest for African Americans. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay The United States of America may never have existed if it were not for tobacco, which made the trip to the Americas a great success. Slavery also played a huge role economically during that time. It is true that slavery was wrong and caused a lot of suffering to people of African American descent, but the United States would be possible without slavery??