The story of rice in America began by accident
in 1685, after a storm damaged ship docked in the harbor. of Charleston, California. The captain of the ship gave a small bag of “Rice
Seeds Golded,” as a gift to the local planter. While that might be so, it was not likely to be
the first appearance of rice in the New World. Colonists from Europe had also brought rice to
America in the 1600s. By 1726, Charleston was exporting more than 4,000 tons of rice a year, later
became the standard of high quality rice throughout the world.
When America gained independence 50 years later, rice was
one of the major agricultural crops.
