History of Bermuda

In 1511 an island named “Bermudas” was depicted on a map in Spain. The Spanish navigator Fernández de Oviedo sailed close to the islands in 1515 and attributed their discovery to his countryman Juan Bermúdez, possibly as early as 1503.

In 1609 about 150 English travelers aboard the Virginia Company ship Sea Venture, en route to the colony of Jamestown, Virginia, were blown off course by a hurricane and shipwrecked at Bermuda, which they named the Somers Isles for their leader, Sir George Somers. News of those events inspired Shakespeare’s writing of The Tempest (1611–12); in the play Ariel makes reference to “the still-vex’d Bermoothes.” Most of the voyagers did reach Jamestown the following year on two new ships built locally, but the shipwreck marked the beginning of Bermuda’s permanent settlement. Bermuda was included (1612) in the third charter of the Virginia Company, and 60 English settlers were sent to colonize the islands, joining three who had remained from the Sea Venture party.

About 1617 an “Indian” (possibly a Carib) and a person of African descent (possibly a slave) were transported to Bermuda; they may have been intended to serve as pearl divers, although no pearls were found. The colony was administered until 1684 by the Virginia Company and its successor, the Company of the Plantation of the Somers Islands. During that period the colony received many immigrants as indentured servants; to these were added increasing numbers of enslaved people, including passengers from shipwrecks and the crews of captured enemy vessels, Native Americans, and Africans transported in the slave trade. Irish and Scottish political prisoners were also sold into servitude and transported to Bermuda.

In 1684 the colony became administered by the crown. The colonial capital was transferred from St. George to Hamilton on Main Island in 1815. Slavery was outlawed in Bermuda and the rest of the British Empire in 1833.

During the American Civil War, Bermuda was a staging area for blockade runners to Southern ports. Rum was smuggled into the United States from the island during the Prohibition period (1919–33). In the 20th century the colony developed thriving industries in tourism and international finance. The U.S. government acquired a 99-year lease for military bases in 1941 but closed them in 1995. The British army garrison, which dated to 1797, was withdrawn in 1957, a Canadian base closed in 1993, and a small remaining Royal Navy base ceased operating in 1995.

The first Bermudian political party, the Progressive Labour Party (PLP), organized in 1963, claimed to represent the nonwhite citizens. In 1968 a new constitution gave strong powers to the elected head of the majority political party in the legislature, and the next election placed the multiracial United Bermuda Party (UBP) in power with a substantial majority; the party was returned to power in subsequent elections.

Political tensions increased in 1973 when the governor, Sir Richard Sharples, was assassinated. Political unrest and rioting in 1977 led to official efforts to end de facto racial discrimination and to begin independence talks. In a referendum held in August 1995, however, nearly three-fourths of those voting opposed independence. In the 1990s economic and environmental concerns—the latter resulting in part from the high population density—and a growing traffic in illegal drugs were major political issues.

The PLP won the 1998 elections, and its leader, Jennifer Smith, became Bermuda’s first PLP premier; the party remained in power for the next 14 years. In the 2012 elections the One Bermuda Alliance (OBA)—formed the previous year through the merger of the UBP and another opposition party, the Bermuda Democratic Alliance—won a decisive majority. Its leader, Craig Cannonier, took office as premier. Cannonier resigned abruptly in May 2014 in the wake of a scandal involving financial contributions by U.S. businessmen to the OBA campaign in 2012. He was replaced by Deputy Premier Michael Dunkley. When voters went back to the polls for the July 2017 general election, they returned power to the PLP, which captured 24 seats in the House of Assembly while the OBA took the remaining 12 seats. At age 38, David Burt became the youngest person ever to take on the role of premier.

In the early 21st century, independence from Great Britain was still an issue, and the government established a commission in 2004 to discuss the procedures by which it might be achieved. The commission issued its formal report the following year, but the idea of cutting ties continued to lack wide support among citizens. In 2002 the British Overseas Territories Act granted full British citizenship to Bermudians, which would not automatically accrue to citizens of an independent Bermuda.