Editing Bermuda (section)

===Settlement by the British===
[[File:The Generall Historie of Virginia, New-England, and the Summer Isles by Captain John Smith.jpg|thumb|[[John Smith (explorer)|John Smith]] wrote one of the first [[The Generall Historie of Virginia, New-England, and the Summer Isles|histories of Bermuda]] in 1624 (combined with [[Virginia]] and [[New England]]).]]
For the next century, the island was frequently visited but not settled. The English began to focus on the New World, initially settling in [[Virginia]], starting British colonisation in North America, establishing a colony at [[Jamestown, Virginia]] in 1607. Two years later, a [[flotilla]] of seven ships left England with several hundred settlers, food, and supplies to relieve the Jamestown colony.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Nicholls |first=Mark |date=3 May 2011 |title=Sir George Somers (1554–1610) |website=Encyclopedia Virginia |url=http://encyclopediavirginia.org/Somers_Sir_George_1554-1610 |url-status=live |access-date=15 August 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120709030535/http://encyclopediavirginia.org/Somers_Sir_George_1554-1610 |archive-date=9 July 2012}}</ref> However, the flotilla was broken up by a storm and the flagship, the ''[[Sea Venture]]'', drove onto Bermuda's reef to prevent her sinking, resulting in the survival of all her passengers and crew.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lefroy |first=John Henry |title=Memorials of the Discovery and Early Settlement of the Bermudas or Somers Islands 1515–1685, Volume I |date=1981 |publisher=The Bermuda Historical Society and The Bermuda National Trust (the first edition having been published in 1877, with funds provided by the Government of Bermuda), printed in Canada by The University of Toronto Press |location=Bermuda |page=49}}</ref><ref name="Encyclopedia Britannica - Bermuda"/> The settlers were unwilling to move on, having now heard about the true conditions in Jamestown from the sailors, and made multiple attempts to rebel and stay in Bermuda. They argued that they had a right to stay and establish their own government. The new settlement became a prison labour camp, and built two ships, the ''Deliverance'' and the ''Patience''.<ref name="Kelly">
{{cite web |last=Kelly |first=Joseph |date=24 June 2019 |title=How the survivor of a 1609 shipwreck brought democracy to America: Stephen Hopkins, colonist at both Jamestown and Plymouth, proposed a government based on consent of the governed |url=https://www.zocalopublicsquare.org/2019/06/24/how-the-survivor-of-a-1609-shipwreck-brought-democracy-to-america/ideas/essay/ |access-date=19 February 2022 |website=zocalopublicsquare.org |type=essay}}
</ref>

In 1612, the English began settlement of the archipelago, officially named Virgineola,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Sir George Somers |department=History of England |website=Historic-uk.com |url=https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofEngland/Sir-George-Somers/ |url-status=live |access-date=8 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210127044729/https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofEngland/Sir-George-Somers/ |archive-date=27 January 2021}}</ref> with arrival of the ship the ''Plough''. New London (renamed St. George's Town) was settled that year and designated as the colony's first capital.<ref name=Smithsonian>{{cite magazine |title=Bermuda – history and heritage |date=6 November 2007 |magazine=[[Smithsonian (magazine)|Smithsonian]] |url=http://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/destination-hunter/bermuda-history-heritage.html |access-date=3 December 2008 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120524174308/http://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/destination-hunter/bermuda-history-heritage.html |archive-date=24 May 2012}}</ref><ref name="Frommers - History of Bermuda"/> It is the oldest continuously inhabited English town in the [[New World]].<ref name=Smithsonian/> In 1616 and 1620 acts were passed banning the hunting of certain birds and young [[tortoise]]s.<ref>{{cite report |author=Meggs, Martin |title=Developing a Small Island GIS: the Bermuda Experience |publisher=Bermuda Department of Planning}}</ref> The archipelago's limited land area and resources led to the creation of what may be the earliest conservation laws of the [[New World]].

====Slavery in Bermuda====
In 1615, the colony, which had been renamed the Somers Isles in commemoration of Sir [[George Somers]], was passed on to the [[Somers Isles Company]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Bermuda's 400th birthday |date=11 February 2009 |website=Bearboa.files.wordpress.com |url=http://bearboat.files.wordpress.com/2009/02/tvlbt-bda-bd-11feb09_sailingtravel1.pdf |url-status=live |access-date=8 November 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140221215346/http://bearboat.files.wordpress.com/2009/02/tvlbt-bda-bd-11feb09_sailingtravel1.pdf |archive-date=21 February 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Somers Garden |website=Bermuda-attractions.com |url=http://www.bermuda-attractions.com/bermuda_0002ae.htm |url-status=live |access-date=8 November 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121103145820/http://www.bermuda-attractions.com/bermuda_0002ae.htm |archive-date=3 November 2012}}</ref> As Bermudians settled the [[Carolina Colony]] and contributed to establishing other [[British colonization of the Americas|English colonies in the Americas]], several other locations were named after the archipelago. During this period the first [[Slavery|slaves]] were held and trafficked to the islands. These were a mixture of native [[indigenous people of Africa|Africans]] who were trafficked to the Americas via the [[Atlantic slave trade|African slave trade]] and [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Native Americans]] who were enslaved from the new world colonies.<ref name="Encyclopedia Britannica - Bermuda"/> The first two slaves arrived in Bermuda in 1616, not from Africa but from the West Indies, one being Black and the other Native American, after Bermuda Governor Tucker had sent the ship "''Edwin''" to the West Indies to find slaves to dive for pearls in Bermuda.<ref>{{cite web |author=<!-- not stated --> |date=23 February 2025 |title=Bermuda's Black History: The 17th and 18th Centuries |url=https://www.thebermudian.com/heritage/heritage-heritage/bermudas-black-history-the-17th-and-18th-centuries |website=The Bermudian magazine |location=Bermuda |publisher=The Bermudian |access-date=27 February 2025}}</ref> There proved to be no pearls to dive for. More black slaves were later trafficked to the island in large numbers, originating from America and the Caribbean.<ref name="slavery">{{cite web |title=History and Culture |url=https://bdalondonoffice.co.uk/discover-bermuda/history-and-culture/#:~:text=The%20first%20slaves%20were%20brought,Colony%20to%20import%20Black%20people. |website=bdalondonoffice.co.uk |publisher=Government of Bermuda |access-date=4 October 2024}}</ref>

As the black population grew, so did the fear of insurrection among the white settlers. In 1623, a law to restrain the insolence of the Negroes was passed in Bermuda. It forbade blacks to buy or sell, barter or exchange tobacco or any other produce for goods without the consent of their master. Unrest among the slaves predictably erupted several times over the next decades.  Major rebellions occurred in 1656, 1661, 1673, 1682, 1730 and 1761. In 1761 a conspiracy was discovered that involved the majority of the blacks on the island. Six slaves were executed and all black celebrations were prohibited.<ref>{{cite web |title=Slavery in Bermuda |url=https://www.sankofabermuda.com/time-line |website=sankabermuda |publisher=Sankofa Bermuda |access-date=4 October 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Slavery in Bermuda |url=https://historiclandlosscoi.bm/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/AL39-Bhattacharya-2017.pdf |website=www.bermuda-attractions.com/bermuda2 |publisher=Bermuda Attractions |access-date=4 October 2024}}</ref>