Act 1: Foundations Buried. Hemp Wins the Revolution (1770s–1780s)
Hemp wasn’t fringe — it was freedom.
Hemp sails, ropes, and cloth literally powered American independence.
Colonists traded hemp bales for muskets and powder.
Without hemp, there was no fleet, no uniforms, no revolution.
Without Hemp, No Revolution
History books don’t tell you this, but America was built on hemp. Not “marijuana,” not “reefer madness”. Industrial hemp. The crop that powered ships, clothed armies, and literally bought the guns that won our independence.
Hemp Wasn’t Fringe, It Was Freedom
By the 1770s, hemp was a mandated crop in several colonies — Virginia, Massachusetts, and Connecticut all passed laws requiring farmers to grow it because it was that essential to the economy and national security (Virginia Assembly, 1632).
Sails & Ropes: Every ship in the Continental Navy was rigged with hemp ropes and sails. Flax and cotton rotted in saltwater ; hemp didn’t. (Smithsonian, Hemp and the Age of Sail).
Cloth & Canvas: The word “canvas” literally comes from “cannabis.” Uniforms, tents, wagon covers, even the paper the Declaration was drafted on were hemp-based.(OED Etymology of “canvas”).
Currency & Trade: Farmers could pay taxes in hemp. Colonists traded hemp bales for muskets and powder with France and the Netherlands, securing the supply lines that kept Washington’s army alive (Jack Herer, The Emperor Wears No Clothes).
Without hemp, there’s no navy, no supply chain, no weapons, no Revolution.
The Receipts They Don’t Teach in School
George Washington grew hemp at Mount Vernon and wrote in his diary about separating male and female plants (Mount Vernon Archives).
Thomas Jefferson grew it at Monticello and even designed a hemp brake to process stalks (Monticello Hemp Records).
Benjamin Franklin owned a hemp paper mill that produced revolutionary pamphlets (Franklin Historical Society).
The U.S. Constitution itself was drafted on hemp paper (National Archives).
Even the first American flag is believed to have been stitched from hemp cloth. Betsy Ross didn’t wave polyester.
Why Bury This Truth?
So why does every schoolchild know about cotton gins but not hemp sails? Why is hemp taught as a drug problem instead of a freedom crop? Because hemp’s very existence exposes the lie that petrochemicals and synthetics were our “only option.” The truth is, we outlawed the plant that made us independent . Just in time for DuPont to patent nylon (1937) and Hearst to protect his timber empire with reefer madness propaganda (DEA Museum – Marihuana Tax Act).
This isn’t nostalgia. It’s a crime scene.
Consumer Takeaway
If hemp could win a war against the largest empire on Earth, it can damn sure replace plastic bags and polyester shirts today. The only reason it doesn’t is because someone built a wall of lies and laws to keep it locked out.
Without hemp, no Revolution. Without you, no evolution.
Read the full story in the book.
Evolution Mine: The Industrial Evolution—the blueprint for breaking the petrochemical playbook and building a regenerative economy.
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