Hemp History Facts to Throw Around at your Holiday Dinner
In honor of Thanksgiving, we’re going back in time to reminisce at the history of hemp! Hemp has been a crucial crop for thousands of years, and has played a huge role in the establishment and growth of the United States. If you weren’t made aware of these already, here’s some hemp history facts for you to impress your relatives with at your holiday family dinner party:
The Declaration of Independence was written on hemp.
This noteworthy crop helped to officiate the beginning of the United States! In order to turn this plant into paper, the strong fibers from the stalk are smashed down into rough, thin sheets. Hemp-based paper is far more sustainable and durable than regular tree-based paper and only takes a little over 3 months to mature. Thomas Jefferson said himself that “hemp is of first necessity to the wealth and protection of the country.”
You could pay your taxes with hemp!
For nearly 150 years, instead of handing over some cash to pay up on your taxes, you could hand over hemp (talk about a valuable crop). This was a tactic by the government that encouraged more farmers to cultivate their own hemp plants. Their incredibly strong fibers were extremely sought out as it is one of the most versatile crops on the planet!
Hemp was crucial for supporting war efforts.
A few years into the Marihuana Tax Act, which made the plant illegal in 1937, it was actually lifted and re-legalized cultivation. Farmers were actually required to grow hemp in order to support war efforts in the United States. In 1942, a US Government film made during WWII was released named ‘Hemp for Victory’, explaining the uses of hemp and encouraging farmers to grow as much as humanly possible. The reasoning behind this was that hemp plants were incredibly useful for turning into rope for military ships and were known for having antifungal and antimicrobial properties.
It built some legendary cars!
Incredibly enough, hemp can be refined into both biofuel and plastic material. This fuel can power all of our vehicles, and the plastic material is 100% biodegradable unlike traditional plastic. Remember the Model T Ford in 1908? That vehicle had a hemp plastic body and was designed to run on hemp fuel! Talk about plant power.
You get the point, hemp is a pretty bad-ass plant and has a million different uses. That’s probably enough facts for you to start up a conversation with Aunt Helen who’s going to ask why you put CBD in the cranberry sauce. Want to learn even more about hemp? Check out our other blog: “8 Ways Hemp Can Save The World.” All these facts make you want to stock up on our CBD? Shop it here!