HEMP HISTORY
How long have people been using hemp for industrial purposes? What was going on with hemp farming in America in the 1700s and 1800s? Is hemp the same as marijuana? If hemp is so great, why isn’t it more widely adopted? The internet is full of information on the history of hemp, and not all of it is reliable. Below you’ll find a brief, verifiable overview of what humans have been doing with industrial hemp both thousands of years ago and now, what hemp is used for, and how long humanity has been interacting with the plant.
Hemp in Ancient Times
We know about hemp’s importance to ancient civilizations the same way we know about ancient architecture, customs and people: through archeological evidence and written history. Fragments of woven hemp fabric were discovered in what was ancient Mesopotamia (sometimes called the “cradle of civilization”) dating back as far as 8000 BCE. Major global civilizations from China to ancient Greece and Rome depended on hemp fiber. By some estimates as many as 95% of seagoing vessels between 500 BCE and 1820 CE used hemp ropes, rigging, tackle and sails. China made paper from hemp for thousands of years, and hemp clothing and footwear were common throughout Asia and Europe. The canvases used by painters from ancient times through the Renaissance and beyond were almost always made of woven hemp fibers — the word “canvas” is itself a derivation of the ancient Greek word for hemp. Industrial hemp was a part of daily life, from the field to the factory, for what we think of as all recorded history.
Hemp in America Before 1937
When the first colonists arrived in the US, they brought hemp seeds because hemp was a critical raw material for their industrial needs. In England, which they’d so recently departed, it was the law of the land that farmers with parcels of a certain size must devote a percentage of their fields to hemp. Early American governors made similar mandates, and there are abundant records of hemp being grown, processed and manufactured into the same products it had always been used for: rope, netting, canvas, and after the advent of the seed press, seed oil for lamplight and other purposes. In 1700 Massachusetts had a written statute “to encourage the sewing and well manufacturing of hemp,” and encouraged local cordage makers to use hemp raised in the province. The hemp industry grew as America grew, and there was a well-documented industrial complex devoted to the processing of hundreds of thousands of tons of fiber hemp into rope each year for US Navy ships. USDA wrote that in 1917 Kentucky had 42,000 acres of hemp under cultivation. It’s important to note America’s hemp needs were not solely supplied domestically — for the better part of a century the US hemp industry also imported fiber from countries like Russia, Italy and Japan, possibly because we needed more than our still-young states could produce. The famous US frigate “Old Ironsides” required 60 tons of hemp for rigging — that’s just one ship. After the invention of the cotton gin around the year 1800, America experienced a century of growth centered around the new cotton industry. Hemp production diminished, but it did not disappear.
Hemp for Victory
In 1942 USDA produced a short film entitled “Hemp For Victory” to encourage US famers to grow industrial hemp for the war effort. After hemp prohibition the US relied on Pacific supply chains of so-called “Manila Hemp” (a fiber crop that is not actually hemp) to produce the vast quantities of cordage needed for US war ships. After the attack on Pearl Harbor those supply chains were broken, and America needed fiber fast. An article in the Farm Journal and Farmer’s Wife from June 1942 indicates USDA aimed to promote the cultivation of 350,000 acres of industrial hemp in 1943. This film — which interestingly, the US government denied knowledge of until 1989 — is an eye-opening glimpse into just how developed the US hemp industry was at the time, its history, and then-newly-created processing technology, spoken of in terms that will sound very similar to those working to reestablish the industry today. It’s worth the 14-minute watch. Bear in mind this film was made by USDA with American taxpayer dollars.
Hemp Prohibition
In 1937 all forms of cannabis were essentially prohibited by the US government and the newly created Federal Bureau of Narcotics under the leadership of Harry Anslinger. Theories abound on the whys and wherefores, but it’s not our remit to delve into them. It does make sense here to point out that fiber hemp and the kind of cannabis grown as an adult intoxicant — cannabinoid flower or marijuana — are very different. Aside from industrial hemp and marijuana having distinctly different intended end uses, industrial hemp is not an intoxicant. Back in 1937 there is plenty of evidence the industry was surprised and confused by prohibition, including letters written by famers and factory owners to the Federal Bureau of Narcotics asking for clarity on the new laws, and requesting special permits to continue to grow the crop. Despite this, the doors shut on hemp and by the middle of the 20th century, and the history, uses, and importance of industrial hemp were all but forgotten. Though other countries like China and Russia continued to produce hemp products unabated, demand and distribution were throttled as the US flexed its might on the world stage.
Hemp in the US Today
During prohibition industrial hemp continued outside the US on a smaller scale as fiber and food, with many European auto manufacturers using hemp in their vehicles without marketing them as such, and hemp seeds maintaining a steady presence in health food stores. Hemp seed imports into the US for sale as food were again allowed in 2004, and Canada has remained the primary country of export.
When hemp’s cousin marijuana began to be deregulated in the US around 2010, interest started to grow about the possibility of returning industrial hemp agronomy and processing to America at scale. In 2014 state pilot programs began, and after the passage of the 2018 Farm Bill farmers and entrepreneurs began to take the opportunity seriously. As of today, there are more hemp farmers and manufacturers in the US than there have been in over 75 years. Growth is restricted by a confusing and contradictory regulatory landscape, the conflation of industrial hemp with cannabinoid hemp and marijuana, and a lack of public education regarding the crop and the benefits of biobased products for our country. The National Hemp Association has been right there with the industry every step of the way as we take lessons from history, work tirelessly through good times and bad, and continue to advocate for the widespread return of this super crop to our agricultural and manufacturing landscape.
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