Ethnobotanical History
Numerous Native American tribes used sassafras for medicinal purposes and to ward off evil spirits. Since then, scientists have found that the oil, roots and bark have analgesic and antiseptic properties. It has been used to treat
"scurvy, skin sores, kidney problems, toothaches, rheumatism, swelling, menstrual disorders and sexually transmitted diseases, bronchitis, hypertension, and dysentery. It is also used as a fungicide, dentifrice, rubefacient, diaphoretic, perfume, carminative and sudorific."
During the establishment of the Virginia Colony, including Jamestown in the 17th century, sassafras was a major export commodity to England. A medicinal root thought to be effective in treating ague (fevers) and STD, with wood was prized for its beauty and durability, sassafras was popular in England from its first import by Sir Walter Raleigh in 1602 until the 18th century.
Exploration for sassafras was the catalyst for the 1603 commercial expedition from Bristol of Captain Martin Pring to the coasts of present-day Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts, and his two ships returned with some. During a brief period in the early 17th century, sassafras was the second-largest export from America behind tobacco. Additionally, throughout history, sassafras wood has been found to be an excellent fire-starter because of the flammability of its natural oils found within the wood and the leaves.
Sassafras was prized in Europe as a cure for gonorrhea and syphilis.
Read more about this topic: Sassafras
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“Literary works cannot be taken over like factories, or literary forms of expression like industrial methods. Realist writing, of which history offers many widely varying examples, is likewise conditioned by the question of how, when and for what class it is made use of.”
—Bertolt Brecht (1898–1956)