Bermuda Cruises - History of Bermuda.

Bermuda takes its name from the Spanish sea captain Juan de Bermúdez, who sighted the islands in 1503. The Spanish did not lay an ownership claim to the islands, but they soon became an important navigational landmark for galleons crossing the Atlantic. Since Bermuda is surrounded by dangerous reefs, nautical wrecks caused the Spanish to be forced ashore on several occasions and littered the surrounding area with sunken treasure causing some people to consider scuba diving more than a fun past time.

In 1609 Admiral Sir George Somers was en route from England with supplies for the recent British settlement at Jamestown, Virginia, when his ship, Sea Venture, was cast off Bermuda. The admiral built replacement ships of Bermuda cedar, sailed and left a few of his men behind to establish a British claim. The experience of these British castaways is thought to have inspired Shakespeare to write The Tempest. Somers returned to Bermuda later that same year but died soon after arrival. The British renamed Bermuda the Somers Islands in honor of the admiral, but the name failed to stick and Bermuda is the formal name.

The Virginia Company took aninterest in the islands after hearing of their suitability for colonization, particularly in light of Jamestown's hostile relations with the local Indians. Only three years after Somers' misadventure, the company organized 60 settlers to establish a permanent colony on the islands. The islands were as productive as first perceived. The shallow topsoil was not friendly for agriculture and the lack of water prevented commercial crops like sugar cane from being planted. The settlers became dependent on food imports from the American colonies, which they paid for by supplying sea salt secured from other islands.

For many years the Virginia Company, and then the Bermuda Company, ran the islands like a fiefdom. This frustrated the settlers that they sued to have the company's charter rescinded, and in 1684 Bermuda became a British crown colony. Slaves were first introduced in 1616, most of them brought forcibly from Africa though some were American Indians. They lived in poor housing conditions but were generally employed as domestic servants or trades people rather than agricultural laborers. The skills they learnt were to stand them in good stead when slavery was abolished in 1834. At the time of emancipation 5000 of the 9000 people residing in Bermuda were registered on the census as black or 'colored.'

Despite Bermuda's reliance on trade with the American colonies, political bonds with Britain proved stronger during the American War of Independence when Bermuda remained loyal to the crown. During the War of 1812, the British Navy used Bermuda as a base from which to ransack Washington, DC. The Americans responded by confiscating the unprotected cargo of Bermuda's merchant fleet, devastating the local economy. The US Civil War proved more lucrative for the island. When the north blockaded southern ports, cotton traders employed small, fast vessels to outrun northern naval gunboats. These vessels were not capable of an Atlantic crossing, and Bermuda blossomed as a trans-shipment center on the blockade runners' route to England. Good at picking losers, the island's short-lived prosperity collapsed with the defeat of the South.

Bermuda's strategic location in the Atlantic secured it a role in Allied military and intelligence operations in WWII. However, its proximity to the US mainland made it inevitable that the US take primary responsibility for developing bases on the island. Much to the locals' consternation, the British subsequently signed a 99-year lease handing over substantial portions of Bermuda's territory to the US military. The US constructed an air base on St David's Island, where the international airport is now located.

In the wake of WWII, women were given the right to vote and, after boycotts, some of the franchise qualifications restricting the power of black voters were removed. In 1963 the Progressive Labour Party was introduced, in part to represent the interests of nonwhite Bermudians in the face of a government almost totally made up of white landowners. The rest of the parliamentarians united to form the United Bermuda Party. The two parties worked together to produce the 1968 constitution which provided for full internal self government, while leaving security, defense and diplomatic affairs to the crown.

Although Bermuda had long prided itself on the relative harmony of its race relations, riots and race antagonism in the 1970s resulted in the removal of all de facto discrimination and the beginning of talks on independence from Britain. In the decades that followed, the independence movement became the dominant political issue, but a referendum in 1995 failed by a two-thirds majority as Bermudians became apprehensive about the political and economic cost of independence. Two weeks later they did, at least, regain control of 10% of the island's land mass when post-Cold War military cutbacks resulted in the closure of the US base on the island. In 1998 the PLP's Jennifer Smith was selected as premier, replacing the UBP's Pamela Gordon, who was Bermuda's first female premier and the youngest person ever to hold the office.

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