- The majority of the labour force used on Virginia’s tobacco plantations in 1740s came from Igboland
- Cotton became the dominant crop in the Black Belt due to the labour contributed by the Igbo.
- The Igbo people were among the first successful Anglo-American settlers
Thousands of Igbo slaves travelled straight from Calabar and Bonny trading ports to Virginia during the transatlantic slave trade. In the 1740s, the majority of the labour force used on Virginia’s tobacco plantations came from Igboland.
Igbos gradually surpassed and replaced their Irish counterparts who were held as indentured servants.
Tobacco and Cotton Production
The tobacco that constituted the backbone of the Virginian economy was produced by Igbo labourers. Cotton became the dominant crop in the Black Belt due to the labour contributed by the Igbo. Additionally, they kept up their contributions to the US’s nation-building and the growth of the frontier culture.
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The First Anglo-American Settlers
As a result, the Igbo were among the first successful Anglo-American settlers and among the first people to pass through the Cumberland Gap, opening the door for US territory development.
The Igbo people’s contribution to the first English permanent settlement of Virginia, the building of the American nation, and the development of the larger American frontier culture is thus tangibly recognized by the construction of the Igbo Farm Village in Staunton, Virginia, as well as the English, German, and Irish Farmsteads, all of which were built by the American Frontier Culture Foundation.