Editing Bermuda (section)

====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>