Farnham, TimothyDrummond, ChloeLauret, SavoyLancaster, Tessa Hanley2025-07-092025-07-092025-07-09https://hdl.handle.net/10166/6759Nicotiana tabacum, the species from which all commercial tobacco is derived, was central to the success of early English settlements in the Chesapeake region. Their success would require and accelerate the displacement of Indigenous people from their homelands and the establishment of commercial slavery in North America on a massive scale. During the peak growth of tobacco in the Chesapeake, two strains dominated the market: Sweet-Scented and Oronoco. Current research on Sweet-Scented and Oronoco tobacco has focused on delineating the regions in which each strain could grow based on soil type; however, the research so far ignores the dynamic, evolving nature of N. tabacum as a species. Originating in South America, N. tabacum spread across the colonial world, and its relocation would expose the plant to new selective pressures in each locale. Different populations of tobacco could and would have come in contact with each other depending on how and where seeds were purchased and introduced to the Chesapeake. Therefore, it is also important to consider the evidence that genetic differences between Sweet-Scented and Oronoco tobacco were a major factor in their differentiation. I have used a combination of historiography, primary source analysis, sediment mapping, and a modern biological perspective to create a better understanding of genetic influences on colonial tobacco strains. This work contributes to our collective understanding of what factors enabled specific planters to amass the economic and political power to displace Indigenous populations and institute commercial slavery on a large scale.en-USColonial AmericaTobaccoInterdisciplinary StudiesPlant BiologySoil ScienceGeologyThesispublic