20th Century:
History of Hemp in the USA
Timeline
Hemp was a staple crop in America since the very beginning. Historical documents, pictures, writings, drawings and manuscripts prove that from the time Jamestown was being founded all the way through World War II, Hemp was a necessary and widely planted crop that many say was the most important crop.
1600
Puritans came over to colonize America. They brought hemp seeds for planting as they needed fiber for the Mayflower and to start civilization.
Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in America, relied heavily on Hemp for ropes, sailcloth, clothing, canvas, cordage, sacks, paper and more. The puritans brought over hemp seed from England and they also traded with native Indians for Indian Hemp seed.
1606
for 200 years, hemp was used and encouraged to be used as a form of paying taxes. During this time, several periods of years, it was illegal NOT to grow hemp and some colonies even imposed jail sentences for not participating in growing hemp.
17th & 18th Century
1775
during the American Revolution, Virginia had at least 4 Hemp processing facilities and processed about 20,000 acres
The Declaration of Independence was signed on Hemp paper!
Also written on hemp paper was The Federalist Papers, the Articles of Confederation and our United States Constitution.
July 4th,
1776
1632
It was required by law for farmers to grow hemp! The Virginia Assembly announced the order for all farmers to grow hemp: “that every planter as soone as he may, provide seede of flaxe and hempe and sowe the same.”
America's Founding Fathers
When America gained its independence, our founding fathers paved the way for America’s foundation and structure politically, economically and socially. They have all attributed to inventions, creations and research articles that has helped develop the nation. Although our current generation was not taught this growing up in school, Hemp was always at the center focus of a lot of these studies. They urged farmers and horticulturists to study the plant’s many benefits.
George Washington
1732-1799
"Make the most of the Indian Hemp seed and sow it everywhere!"
John Adams
1735-1826
“Seems to me if great men don’t leave off writing politics, breaking heads, boxing ears, ringing noses and kicking breeches, we shall by and by want a world of Hemp more for our own consumption”
James Doe
1735-1826
“Some of my finest hours have been spent sitting on my back veranda, smoking hemp and observing as far as my eye can see.”
Benjamin Franklin
1706-1790
Built the first Hemp paper mill which sparked America's Independence
from having to go through Britain for Newspapers.
George Washington not only grew hemp but played a large roll in promoting the benefits of the plant, primarily for industrial use at this time. He wrote meticulous articles, letters and transcripts on topics ranging from different methods of growing, experimenting on new farm equipment for harvest, seed sharing and even stories of his travels afar seeking and obtaining seeds from different countries to bring back to America. The Library of Congress’ website offers a great search engine to narrow down finding 100s of George Washington’s articles and drawings about hemp.
Benjamin Franklin is attributed for having built the first hemp paper mill in America. This helped America gain further independence as they did not have to import paper from England, which meant freedom of speech could start to spread. This helped spark the revolution when Thomas Paine published his patriotic literature which sparked the American Revolution.
1775
Americans started migrating more west and spreading hemp throughout the country. Kentucky started growing hemp and Betsy Ross first made the American flag out of hemp.
George Washington offered incentives to entice Americans to pay their taxes in hemp.
1791
1797
“Old Ironside” was America’s oldest navy warship. America needed more than 120,000 tons of hemp fibers were needed for the ropes, canvas, sales..etc.
Abraham Lincoln wrote an article on using hemp seed oil to fuel his household lamps.
1840
Constitution c. 1803
The USDA announced that growing 1 acre of hemp produced the equivalent of growing 4 acres of trees annually to produce paper. Hemp paper can also be recycled 7-8 times whereas paper made from trees can only be recycled up to 3 times.
1916
1937
The Marijuana Tax Act placed a tax on all cannabis sales including hemp. This heavily discouraged production.
Exert from
"1916 USDA Bulletin #404"
1938
a magazine titled Popular Mechanics published an article detailed about 25,000 uses for hemp.
1942
The USDA released a short film called “Victory for Hemp” urging farmers to grow hemp for WWII. It is a 14-minute-long video explaining how to grow hemp, its benefits and why the United States of America needed farmers to grow hemp so badly. This was at the peak of US Hemp farming and encouraged farmers throughout the Midwest and southeast to help support the war by growing hemp. Because of this campaign, from 1942 to 1945, the US cultivated 400,000 acres of hemp for the war efforts.
Popular Mechanics 1938
1942
Henry Ford built a “Hemp car”. The car’s body was made of plastic hemp fiber, which is 10 times stronger than steel. Ford also used Hemp bio-diesel as the fuel that powered the car as well as Hemp fabric for the upholstery.
Once WWII ended, the government’s demand for hemp went down along with strict, expensive regulations imposed by the Marijuana Tax Act caused 1957 to be the last year Hemp was commercially produced in America until 2014.
1957
1970
The Controlled Substances Act went into effect denouncing the high taxation approach of the Marijuana Tax Act and effectively making all cultivation and use of Hemp illegal by classifying Hemp as a Schedule I drug.
The Slow Shift in American's attitude toward Hemp
Hemp production started to decline due to the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937
As the US government began ramping up the War on Drugs, hemp started getting lumped in with it's cousin plant, marijuana. American's interest in growing Hemp greatly decreased as they began heavily taxing Hemp sales.
1942 - Hemp Farming was heavily encouraged as US needed Hemp for WWII
Many speculate the reason for heavily taxing hemp was to reduce advancing research into the commodity in order that the plastic, nylon and pharmaceutical companies gain advantage. Another industry Hemp threatens is the oil industry. It has already been proven (back in 1942!) that engines can run off of bio-diesel produced by hemp.
1957 - Last year Hemp was produced in America as the government reversed posture again
Within a few years after WWII, the government yet again changed their stance on hemp by including it into the War on Drugs. They heavily taxed and regulated farmers while crippling hemp production. All the while large production facilities went bankrupt. They villianized hemp on the nightly news causing American's attitude toward the crop irrationally misguided. Eventually, Hemp was included on the Controlled Substance Act which classified Hemp as a schedule 1 drug, along with LSD and Heroin in 1970.
The government reversed their stance on Hemp when they realized they drastically needed it for the war efforts. They used hemp for rope, sails, rigging, cables, canvas, shoes, parachute webbing and so much more. The Department of Agriculture developed a Pro-Hemp commercial urging farmers to grow more Hemp. Because of their efforts, between 1942-1945, America grew over 400,000 acres of Hemp.
Hemp Makes a Comeback!
Several state university’s started emerging with funding and grants for hemp research pilot programs. Some states went through as early as 1999 while others acknowledged the importance of the crop in government documents however chose not to push the issue further to legalize. The DEA and FDA did not make it very easy for many Universities to contribute to research during this time as it was still considered a schedule 1 drug.
Late 1990's &
Early 2000's
February 6,
2004
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals declared with unanimous decision that foods and body care products containing hemp is legal to import, sale and consume within the US. Since this ruling, hemp food and hemp body care products import, and sales numbers have increased each year by double digits.
Dr. Bronner’s company financed majority of the funding needed for the lawyers to work this case against the DEA.
2014 Farm Bill
As demand for hemp products continue to rise and the government gets closer to ending full prohibition, the 2014 Farm Bill was adopted. Section 7606 of this bill created a framework for the legal cultivation of Hemp by states that choose to be apart of developing state issued Hemp Pilot Programs or allowing Universities to conduct Hemp cultivation, without needing approval or permits from the DEA.
Farm Bill 2018 was signed by the President which officially removed Hemp from the Controlled Substances Act and allowing states to regulate Hemp farming without fear of the government interfering. This also allows banks to get involved into the industry which will bring a flood of investors ready to jump into this Green Gold Rush. The Brightfield Group estimates the market will reach 22 Billion by 2022. By the time this Bill was signed, 40 states already established pilot programs for industrial and commercial purposes.