By Elizabeth Childress B.A. in History, Christopher Newport University, and Sheri Shuck-Hall, PhD, Professor of History at Christopher Newport University

Out of all the resources in the world, what do you think would be the most highly prized by the wealthy of the past? If you thought “salt,” you would be correct. It is remarkable to consider that a substance treated as an ordinary, everyday seasoning in modern times was once a major determinant of social and economic status. This exhibition explores the history of salt as both a vital global commodity and a force in early American society, detailing how the Revolutionary War disrupted salt distribution in the American colonies, with a specific focus on the Commonwealth of Virginia.[1]

Salt of (and Around) the Earth

In school, we are often taught that salt was important to ancient civilizations that lacked modern refrigeration. However, the extent of salt education often starts and ends with brief discussions of preserving meat. Salt’s true history is vastly more extensive, beginning thousands of years ago in prehistoric China.

One of the earliest records of an organized saltwork can be traced back to Shanxi, China, around 6000 B.C. Within this province, constant warfare erupted for control of Lake Yuncheng. The underlying catalyst for these ancient conflicts was this single mineral. In the summer, the intense sun evaporated the water from the surface of Lake Yuncheng, leaving behind vast sheets of salt crystals for whoever controlled the region to harvest, use, or sell. Early Chinese records also describe harvesting salt by boiling ocean water in clay pots—a technique adopted by Europeans thousands of years later. Production methods advanced rapidly as Chinese artisans developed iron metallurgy; boiling brine in iron pans yielded far superior salt crystals.[2]

Like the ancient Chinese, the Egyptians obtained salt through solar evaporation but also participated in extensive Mediterranean and African trade networks. More frequently, however, they chose to trade pre-salted foods, such as fish, rather than the raw mineral itself, as bulk salt was remarkably heavy and burdensome to transport across long distances.[3]

Pass the Salt

When the competition for the colonization of the Americas began, the British claimed vast territories. While the Virginia Company of London established Jamestown, other British merchants and charter companies pushed into the Caribbean. Although the British manufactured some salt domestically in places like Chester, they typically looked outward to fulfill their massive maritime demands. They traded naval protection to Portugal in exchange for salt and grew increasingly determined to secure their own supplies as they expanded into the Caribbean. British ships eventually began illegally harvesting salt from Spanish-claimed islands, ultimately focusing their primary efforts on the Turks Islands. There, British captains dropped off enslaved laborers and workers to rake up the evaporated salt from coastal pans for transport to Great Britain and the North American colonies.[4]

The working conditions on the Caribbean salt islands were brutal. Many of the enslaved laborers who harvested the mineral worked deep into the night to meet shipping quotas. Their limited rest was severely hindered by painful “salt boils”—painful skin ulcerations caused by constant contact with heavy brine. To add to these grueling conditions, their standard rations consisted largely of salt-preserved cod. This salt-preserved fish, often referred to as “slave food,” was actually traded by North American colonists to British merchants in exchange for raw salt. Because the North American colonies were part of the British imperial system, colonists relied on these mercantilist loops to secure Caribbean salt. These trade routes remained the most prominent way of obtaining salt until the political upheavals of the late 1700s.[5]

Salt During the Revolution

As the American colonists moved toward a war for independence from the British Crown, these established trade relationships collapsed. The colonists relied heavily on British imports and carried massive commercial debts because of this reliance. With the Revolution on the horizon, colonies like Massachusetts and Virginia sought global commercial independence, but breaking free from British shipping networks proved difficult. Most colonial trade was tightly regulated by British authorities, forcing colonists to find alternative ways to assert their economic autonomy prior to open warfare.[6]

When the war began, resistance manifested on the home front in the form of food riots. As critical agricultural goods became expensive and scarce, citizens took to the streets. These rioters specifically targeted wealthy merchants who were accused of hoarding and price-gouging salt and other vital imported commodities.[7]

One of the primary reasons merchants hoarded salt was the naval blockade established by the British. In 1775, in response to the growing rebellion, the Royal Navy restricted access to American ports. While many imported resources grew scarce, the lack of salt was particularly detrimental. Salt was used for far more than flavoring; General George Washington’s Continental Army relied heavily on salt for medical applications, sanitization, and the massive logistical task of preserving rations for marching soldiers.[8]

The British blockade created such severe disruptions that colonial governments were forced to intervene. The Continental Congress passed emergency legislation recommending that each colony immediately establish internal salt production rather than outsourcing to neighbors. To promote self-sufficiency, Congress funded and distributed instructional guides detailing how to efficiently boil seawater. They also promised financial bounties to importers and domestic producers, triggering a rapid increase in coastal saltworks. Despite these efforts, domestic production rarely met demand, leaving most colonies with a perpetual shortage.[9]

Virginia’s Salt History

Long before Europeans arrived in the Americas, Indigenous populations maintained highly successful salt-gathering processes. The Great Buffalo Lick on the Great Kanawha River—located on the western frontier of colonial Virginia (in modern-day West Virginia)—stands as one of the earliest documented salt sources in the region. Early European explorers recorded detailed accounts of Indigenous communities gathering to harvest brine from these natural salt springs.[10]

Some of the earliest European settlers in Virginia attempted to replicate these practices. The earliest known colonial saltwork in Virginia was established on Smith Island in 1614. However, the operation was plagued by technical difficulties, failed to meet the colony’s growing demands, and was ultimately abandoned.[11]

When the British blockade began, Virginia found itself in a difficult position. Salt was an absolute necessity for daily survival, and citizens quickly felt the sting of the shortage. In one notable instance, a group of rural Virginians unable to secure salt due to wartime restrictions marched into Henrico County, attempting to use physical force to compel local authorities to redistribute stored salt reserves. As the war progressed, prices skyrocketed. The Virginia Convention—the revolutionary governing body that replaced the royal assembly—was forced to pass strict regulations against hoarding, outlining severe legal punishments for violators.

The shortage in Virginia became so critical that in 1775, the Continental Congress granted the colony special permission to import salt from foreign ports. However, wartime shipping was highly erratic, and foreign vessels could not be relied upon. This shortage placed an immense burden on the state, as Virginia was tasked with providing salted meat to Washington’s army while simultaneously trying to feed its own civilian population.[12]

In response to this crisis, Virginia made renewed attempts to establish internal saltworks. In 1776, with financial backing from the Virginia Convention, colonists attempted to construct large-scale salt pans along the Chesapeake Bay. Unfortunately, the geography worked against them. Building and maintaining heavy evaporation structures in the marshy wetlands of the Chesapeake proved far more expensive than anticipated, and the salt yield was too low to justify the cost. It was not until later years that Saltville, located in Southwest Virginia, became the region’s premier salt producer, eventually playing a massive logistical role during the American Civil War.[13]

Virginia Hams it Up

While modern Virginia is celebrated for products like apples, coal, and peanuts, its historic salt economy is most closely tied to its legendary ham industry. By the time of the American Revolution, Virginia was renowned for curing high-quality hams, exporting them across the Atlantic to Great Britain and south to Jamaica.

French military officers were first exposed to Virginia ham while assisting the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War; many documented that they preferred it to European cured meats and carried curing techniques back to France. These early methods of pork preservation gradually evolved into the world-famous culinary industry centered in Smithfield, Virginia, which remains an international leader in ham production today.[14]

Are You Worth Your Salt?

In the context of early America, salt carried a deep cultural and social meaning. Because it was scarce and essential, the presence and quality of salt on a standard dinner table served as a clear indicator of a family’s socioeconomic status.

The primary vessel for displaying this mineral was the “salt cellar.” A high-quality, decorative salt cellar was placed prominently at the head of the table by the master of the house. The volume of salt inside the cellar, and the host’s willingness to share it with guests, communicated volumes about the household’s wealth and social standing. Guests seated “above the salt” (close to the host and the salt cellar) were honored, while those seated “below the salt” occupied a lower social status.[15]

Conclusion

Salt has a monumental history for such a microscopic crystal. Its legacy ranges from a strategic resource in ancient China to a highly contested wartime commodity during the American Revolution, culminating in the mass availability we enjoy today. Reflecting on this history, we gain a deeper appreciation for an ingredient now found in every kitchen on earth. As historian Mark Kurlansky notes in Salt: A World History:

“The history of the Americas is one of constant warfare over salt. Whoever controlled salt was in power. This was true before Europeans arrived, and it continued to be the reality until after the American Civil War.”[16]

Salt has been an indispensable pillar of human civilization for thousands of years, yet its modern abundance often causes us to overlook its value. Only a few centuries ago, governments rationed these tiny grains, and communities faced civil unrest when supplies failed. Salt was a primary marker of status, power, and wealth—and even served as one of the world’s earliest forms of currency. In fact, the modern word “salary” originates from the Latin salarium, referring to the allowance given to Roman soldiers to purchase salt.

While receiving a paycheck in salt today would leave workers deeply dissatisfied, handing a modern salt shaker to an early American colonist would provide them with a fortune. For millennia, salt was an irreplaceable element of human survival, a historical truth we must remember before taking the next grain for granted.[17]

Isle of Wight County Museum

To explore Virginia’s connection to the salt trade and early American foodways firsthand, visitors are encouraged to tour the public galleries at the Isle of Wight County Museum in Smithfield, Virginia. The museum features an array of regional historical exhibits, including the period salt cellar highlighted in this exhibition, a meticulously reconstructed 20th-century general store, and the museum’s most famous artifacts: the World’s Oldest Ham (cured in 1902) and the World’s Oldest Peanut. For those unable to visit the historic tidewater region in person, the museum hosts a live, 24/7 “Ham Cam” on its official website, allowing global audiences to view these unique pieces of agricultural history online.

About the Author

Elizabeth “Lizzie” Childress will graduate from Christopher Newport University with a B.A. in History and dual minors in Museum Studies and Political Science. She developed this virtual exhibition in collaboration with Rachel Popp and the curatorial staff at the Isle of Wight County Museum. Elizabeth has previously completed professional collections and archival internships at the Poe Museum in Richmond, Virginia, and aspires to pursue a Ph.D. in History to build a career as a museum curator.

Notes

1. Mark Kurlansky, Salt: A World History (New York: Penguin Books, 2003), 203–205.
2. Ibid., 18–19.
3. Ibid., 41, 43–44.
4. Ibid., 180–181, 207–209; see also Cynthia M. Kennedy, “The Other White Gold: Salt, Slaves, the Turks and Caicos Islands, and British Colonialism,” The Historian 69, no. 2 (2007): 218–220.
5. Kennedy, “The Other White Gold,” 215–217.
6. Kurlansky, Salt: A World History, 219–220.
7. Barbara Clark Smith, “Food Rioters and the American Revolution,” The William and Mary Quarterly 51, no. 1 (1994): 3.
8. Kurlansky, Salt: A World History, 220; see also Larry G. Bowman, “The Scarcity of Salt in Virginia during the American Revolution,” The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography 77, no. 4 (1969): 466.
9. Kurlansky, Salt: A World History, 222; Bowman, “The Scarcity of Salt in Virginia,” 466.
10. Kurlansky, Salt: A World History, 249.
11. Curatorial File Records, Isle of Wight County Museum, Smithfield, Virginia.
12. Bowman, “The Scarcity of Salt in Virginia,” 464–466.
13. Ibid., 466–469; see also “Saltville in Southwest Virginia,” Encyclopedia Virginia, May 31, 2023, https://encyclopediavirginia.org/9732-bf7db7eb8941ef7/.
14. Kurlansky, Salt: A World History, 218.
15. Material Culture Collection Profiles, Isle of Wight County Museum.
16. Kurlansky, Salt: A World History, 203.
17. Ibid., 63.