rect trade or by
re-exportation from England a goodly share of the annual crop was
consumed in foreign countries, a share which had it been left in England
to clog the market, would have reacted disastrously upon all concerned.

It is apparent, then, that in the first half century of its existence
Virginia was the land of opportunity. The poor man who came to her
shores, whether under terms of indenture or as a freeman, found it quite
possible to establish himself as a person of some property and
consideration. We may imagine the case of the servant who had completed
his term and secured his freedom at any time during the third decade of
the Seventeenth century. As we have seen, it was an easy matter for him
to secure a small patch of land and the tools with which to cultivate
it. By his unassisted efforts, if he applied himself steadily to the
task, he could produce a good crop of tobacco, consisting perhaps of
some 400 pounds. This he could sell to the merchants for from two
shillings to six pence a pound, or a total of from L10 to L40.[4-40]

In the years from 1630 to 1640, when the price of tobacco seems to have
stabilized itself at from two to three pence, cases of such
extraordinary returns must have been of less frequent occurrence, but to
some extent lower prices were offset by larger crops. If our freedman in
1635 could raise 800 pounds of leaf and dispose of it for four pence,
his income would be L13.6.8; in 1649, by producing 1,000 pounds, he
could sell it at three pence for L12.10.0. In fact, it is not too much
to say that the average annual income from the labor of one able worker
at any time prior to 1660 was not less than L12. When we take into
consideration the fact that the planter produced his own food, and that
out of the proceeds of his tobacco crop he paid only his taxes and his
bills to the English importers, it is evident that he had a goodly
margin of profit to lay aside as working capital.

It must not be forgotten, however, that this margin was greatly reduced
by the high cost of clothing, farm implements and all other articles
brought from across the ocean. The long and dangerous voyage from London
to the Chesapeake made the freight rates excessive, while the merchants
did not scruple to drive a hard bargain whenever possible. The letters
of the Governors are filled with complaints against the exactions of
these men. "This year the Merchants have bought our tobacco with their
commodities at