Avery Odelle Craven (1885--1980) argues that the rich soil in Virginia was depleted by the overproduction of tobacco. Tobacco is a crop that leeches nutrients, such as phosphorus, nitrogen and potassium, from the soil at a rate higher than any other major crop. However, because tobacco was a high-revenue farm product, from 1823 to 1833, Virginia, was the largest tobacco market in the world. The production pace was exhausting the rich soil of the region.
Craven posits that soil depletion and other ruinous agricultural practices contributed greatly to the economic crisis faced by mid-nineteenth-century America. His study traces a series of poor social and economic choices that affected the land and the survival of those who occupied it.