March 25, 2016

Hemp History in the United States

 As a brand, Superego's main focus is to reverse the stigma of hemp and in turn redress America with hemp. Hemp has a long history of triumph inside the United States, before becoming illegal in September 1937. While conducting some thorough research on the plant's fibers and how beneficial they are, we ran into some great facts about hemp's past life in America. 

 1. All schoolbooks were made with hemp paper until 1880.

 2. It was legal to pay taxes with hemp in America from 1631 to the early 1800s.

 3. Refusing to grow hemp in the United States in the 17th and 18th centuries was against the law and could land you some jail time.

 4. 90% of all ships sails and rope were made from hemp. In fact, the word 'canvas' comes from the Middle English word "canevas," which is derived from the word cannabis.

 5. 80% of all textiles, fibers, linen, clothes, drapes, bed sheets, etc., were made with hemp up until 1820, when the cotton gin was introduced.

 6. The first bibles, maps, flags, charts, a first drafts of the Declaration of Independence and Constitution were made from hemp.

 7. Rembrandt's, Van Gogh's, Gainsborough's, and many other early canvas paintings were principally painted on hemp linen.

 8. Quality paints and varnishes were made from hemp seed oil up until 1937. Over 58,000 hemp seeds were used in the U.S for paint products in 1935.

 9. Henry Ford's first Model-T vehicle was built to run on hemp gasoline and the car itself was constructed from hemp.The car had hemp plastic panels, which is 10 times as strong as steel.

 10. After it's illegalization in 1937, in 1938, hemp was considered the first ever 'Billion Dollar Crop.' It was the first time a cash crop had a business potential to exceed a billion dollars.

 After seeing all of these facts, its apparent that hemp has been the best thing in America since sliced bread. Stay educated and sustained.