The history of tobacco use in the Americas goes back over 1,000 years when natives of the region chewed or smoked the leaves of the plant now known as Nicotiana rustica (primarily in the north) and Nicotiana tabacum (mostly in the south). After European colonization, tobacco would become the most profitable crop exported from the Americas.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original content at https://www.worldhistory.org/article/1677/a-brief-history-of-tobacco-in-the-americas/.