The history of Hemp is almost as long as the history of man. I will discuss the history as it pertains to Industrial Hemp and not its more popular and illigal cousin marijuana. While both are from the Cannabis family, the industrial strain contains very little amounts of the chemical known as THC, which is the active ingrediant in marijuana that everyone desires.

One reason for writing on Industrial Hemp is that it has received a bad rap and I would like to try to shed the light on its uses and differentiate it from its illegal cousin. While others have tried to do the same, they have included terms and names that also apply to marijuana and have brought Industrial Hemp into the same arena as marijuana. Whether it is a pure mistake or an attempt to get marijuana also legalized has terribly hurt our planet as Industrial Hemp has so much to offer us and efforts to help save the planet.

So sit back and relax and read about the history of this great plant. 

There is no evidence that Industrial Hemp was present in the Garden of Eden, but most likely was available to the new sinning couple as a reward for eating the forbidden fruit after they were kicked out of the Garden.

The earliest recorded history of the use of Industrial hemp was Hemp fibers found in pottery shards from China and Taiwan about 10,000 years ago. Further proof of its use keeps expanding as time as gone by.

The main uses of Hemp in the Middle East and Europe was for paper, rope, oil and foods. Hemp was observed being grown by the natives in 1607 by Gabriel Archer in the area now known as Richmond, VA and in 1617, Samuell Argall noted that the wild hemp around the Potomac was better than the variety "grown back in England," according to Wikipedia.

George Washington and Thomas Jefferson both grew and harvested Hemp for its many uses and Benjamin Franklin started the first paper mill , which made paper from the Hemp fiber. Thomas Jefferson drafted the Declaration of Independence on Hemp paper.

The wooden ships of this era used many Hemp products including rope, oil for lanterns, oil to make pitch for sealing and hemp cloth for the sails.

The use of Hemp was eventually made illegal as it was wrongfully grouped with its cousin as being a drug and was not allowed to be grown in the United States. This will be covered more later. 

Jack Herer wrote a book called "The Emperor Wears No Clothes" that was introduced over 20 years ago and is a great ally for Industrial Hemp. The only criticism about this book is that Herer intermingles the word marijuana with hemp, a tactic that I do not agree with and has probably hurt the campaign for the legalization of Hemp. But, otherwise, "The Emperor.." is a great book of the history and uses of Industrial Hemp. 

The Marihuana Act of 1937 was significant in the criminalization of Cannabis and unfortunately Hemp was included. It really didn't make it illegal, it just put such a great tax on it, that it did not make logical sense to grow Hemp. This Act was also fueled by William Randolph Hearst's smear campaign of Marijuana and how it mad men and women mad and crazy. He printed these stories in all of his papers on paper made from HIS forests. Therefore it is theorized that Hearst was looking after his own interest as paper made from Hemp was cheaper to use than wood pulp paper.

This did not, however, remove the importance of Hemp from the United States government's memory. During World War II, the United States government, amid several rationed items actually awarded special permits to farmers to grow Hemp so many items could be provided for our troops. 

Above is a copy of a Special Tax Stamp issued in 1945 for a farmer in Wisconsin to grow some Hemp for the war effort.

Below is a documentary made by the United States Department of Agriculture to help recruit farmers into growing hemp to be used in WWII. 

Now, great inventors like Henry Ford and Rudolph Diesel originally made their machines to run on fuel created from hemp. Ford even made a plastic car with the help of the Hemp fiber that lasted longer and was stronger than a metal body. Take a look at this video.