tobacco was a major export and huge part of our colonies prosperity. many tobacco farmers were energetic early backers of independence. george washington grew tobacco at mt. vernon first at his primary crop, and benjamin franklin anewspap franklin s newspaper, some of the earliest ads ran alongside essays urging them to stand up for freedom. several million pounds of tobacco were used as collateral to secure loans needed from grants. years later, lewis and clark used it as a peace offering to tribes they met while headed west. we re going to monitor this. it is an interesting history lesson, starting in 1612, talking about tobin america. mitch mcconnell in addition to house leader is a senator from