The History Of Hemp

The hemp plant has a long history of being used to manufacture material for clothing, used to produce medications by the father of medicine and would even be used as money in the colonies of America. The history of this plant spans the centuries used as a way to make clothing, a means of medicine and for construction materials.

Hemp is also a plant that has been made legal in the same country where the growth of it was promoted for many years, the United States. When settlers first arrived and for over a hundred years afterwards the promotion of growing crops of hemp was encouraged, going as far as to offer special payments for farmers that grew hemp crops. During this time it was the main plant used to run the country, being used for money, for material, for building materials and more. George Washington and Thomas Jefferson both saw the benefits in the diversity of the plant for its many uses.

Hemp was not only unique as a main crop in America; it has been credited for nutrition through two famines in Australia and growth of crops in Canada. The Chinese in the early centuries found it to be a plant to be used for paper and this lasted through the centuries having many important documents written on hemp paper. These documents have survived in better condition than many other documents because of the properties of the plant, making a naturally acid free paper.