What crop saved the people of Jamestown ?

The crop that is often credited with saving the people of Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in North America, is tobacco. In the early 17th century, specifically in 1612, John Rolfe introduced a new strain of tobacco known as Orinoco tobacco to the Jamestown colony. This type of tobacco proved to be well-suited for cultivation in the Virginia climate and soil.

Tobacco quickly became a lucrative cash crop for the settlers. Its successful cultivation and exportation brought economic stability to Jamestown and attracted more settlers to the region. The profitability of tobacco played a significant role in the colony's survival and helped to establish the economic foundation for the future development of the Virginia colony and the Southern colonies in general.

While tobacco provided economic benefits, it's important to note that the reliance on a single cash crop also had social and environmental consequences, including the expansion of tobacco cultivation at the expense of other crops, as well as the increased demand for labor, leading to the expansion of indentured servitude and later, the reliance on enslaved labor in the Southern colonies.