Which was the first permanent English colony in the New World that depended on tobacco for economic success?

• A. Jamestown
• B. Plymouth
• C. Roanoke
• D. Massachusetts Bay

Answer: (A)

The question tests how a single cash crop can shape the survival and economy of a colony. Jamestown, founded in 1607 in Virginia, became the first permanent English settlement to thrive largely because tobacco cultivation proved extremely profitable. When John Rolfe perfected a sweet, marketable tobacco strain and began exporting it to England in the early 1610s, the colony gained a steady revenue stream. That tobacco boom financed settlement expansion, attracted more colonists, and established Virginia’s economic identity around tobacco exports.

Plymouth and the Massachusetts Bay colonies were founded for religious reasons and built their economies on a mix of trade, timber, fishing, and diversified farming rather than a single crop. Roanoke was an earlier, failed attempt that never established a lasting economy. So, the enduring emphasis on tobacco as the economic lifeline marks the first permanent English colony in the New World to depend on it for success.