John Rolfe
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John Rolfe (l. 1585-1622 CE) was an English merchant and colonist of Jamestown best known as the husband of Pocahontas (l. c. 1596-1617 CE). He is also known, however, for his successful cultivation of tobacco in Virginia which established the crop as the most lucrative export of the early English colonies of North America. Tobacco had proven itself a profitable trade commodity for the Spanish who had colonized South and Central America and the West Indies throughout the 16th century CE. The English hoped they would have the same kind of success with their colony at Jamestown, but the settlement struggled for three years just to survive until Rolfe arrived in 1610 CE with tobacco seeds he believed would do well in the marshy soil of Virginia. Rolfe produced his first crop by 1611 CE, not only saving the colony but establishing a cash crop that would form the basis for the colonial American economy.