Our country used to use Hemp for a number of things. Our founding fathers grew hemp. Here are a few other things about hemp:
Schoolbooks were made from hemp and flax paper until the 1880's
It was legal to pay your taxes with hemp from 1631 till the early 1800's
Refusing to grew hemp was against the law in the 17th and 18th centuries
For thousands of years 90% of all ship sails and ropes were made from hemp
80% of all textiles, fabrics, clothes, linen, drapes and bedsheets were made from hemp till the 1820's with the intro of the cotton gin
The first bibles, maps, charts, Betsy Ross flag, 1st draft of Declaration of Independence and Constitution were made from hemp
Oldest records of hemp farming go back 5000 years in China
Early canvas paintings were painted on hemp linen
In 1916 the US Govt predicted that by the 1940's all paper would come from hemp and no more trees would need to be cut down (1 acre of hemp equals 4.1 acres of trees)
Quality paints and varnishes were made from hemp seed oil till 1937
There is much more that hemp is used for but I think you get the picture. But, the BIG point is that the govt had a chance to save mother earth and her trees but they didn't. They gave in to greedy business men who would lose money if hemp was used and by giving in we all lose.
5 comments:
Absolutely fascinating information! And infuriating, too. Your ending paragraph says it all.
Thank you for such an interesting post. Hope you are doing well.
I love your post...yes I agree with Lydia, the last paragraph says it all. I never knew so much was made out of hemp. Why can't they use it once more?
Lydia, thanks. I found it fascinating also, so I had to share it. It broke my heart when I found out that we had the chance to save trees and didn't do it. I'm doing well, am going to pop over to your site right after this :)
Kathy, thanks. I think we are not using it because big business is still controlling everything. They still would lose money. I don't know why they won't switch over. It makes me very sad that they have poo pooed the planet and us for money.
That's quite interesting--I did not know that. I have heard many things can be made of hemp. Sad this resource hasn't been taken advantage of.
Beth, that is so true. If we would start using hemp again we would save so many trees. Its heart breaking.
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