Editing History of Guernsey (section)

== Early modern history ==
===Civil War===
{{main|Channel Islands in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms}}
[[File:Castle Cornet Floodlit.jpg|thumb|right|[[Castle Cornet]] seen at night over the harbour of [[St Peter Port]].]]
During the [[English Civil War]], Guernsey sided with the [[Roundhead|Parliamentarians]], while Jersey remained [[Cavalier|Royalist]].<ref>{{citation|last=Wood |first=Norman |date=26 February 2009 |url=http://www.jerseymilitia.co.uk/jerseyhistory.html |title=Royal Jersey Militia Regimental History}}</ref> Guernsey's decision was mainly related to the higher proportion of Calvinists and other Reformed churches, as well as [[Charles I of England|Charles I]]'s refusal to invest in the defences of the island.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lemprière |first=Raoul |title=History of the Channel Islands |publisher=Hale |year=1974 |isbn=0709142528 |pages=68}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Uttley |first=John |title=The Channel Islands: A New Study |publisher=David & Charles |year=1977 |isbn=0715373331 |pages=73}}</ref> The allegiance was not total, however; there were a few Royalist uprisings in the southwest of the island, while [[Castle Cornet]] was occupied by the Governor, [[Peter Osborne (1584-1653)|Sir Peter Osborne]], and Royalist troops. Castle Cornet, which had been built to protect Guernsey, was turned on by the town of St. Peter Port, who constantly bombarded it. It was the penultimate Royalist stronghold to capitulate (in 1651)<ref>{{citation |last=Lemprière |first=Raoul |year=1970 |title=Portrait of the Channel Islands |publisher=Hale |location=London |page=[https://archive.org/details/portraitofchanne00lemp/page/] {{page needed|date=December 2015}} |isbn=0-7091-1541-5 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/portraitofchanne00lemp/page/ }}</ref> <!--and was also the focus of a failed invasion attempt by [[Louis XIV]] of France in 1704.-->

=== 17th and 18th trade and emigration ===
{{main|Maritime history of the Channel Islands}}
The Newfoundland cod trade was important to Guernsey until around 1700 when the small Guernsey ships found that the smuggling trade could prove more profitable, with Island businesses established to buy in goods for sale to smugglers until smuggling declined at the end of the 18th century,<ref name=PotS/>{{rp|245}} when legal privateering took over as the most profitable business.

Wars against France and Spain during the 17th and 18th centuries gave Guernsey shipowners and sea captains the opportunity to exploit the island's proximity to mainland Europe by applying for [[Letter of marque|Letters of Marque]] and turning their [[Cargo ship|merchantmen]] into licensed [[privateer]]s. It was very profitable. In the first ten years of 18th century, the [[War of the Spanish Succession]], 608 prizes were taken by Guernsey privateers.<ref name=PotS/>{{rp|120}} there was however a downside with about 50 ships being lost. To spread the risk, people would buy a share in a ship, ({{frac|1|8}} for instance) receiving a portion of prize monies after costs, if successful. Many Islanders became rich without ever setting foot on a sailing vessel. Ships became larger, with more crew and were better armed as more money was invested. Late in the 18th century, during the [[American Revolutionary War]] which lasted for 8 years, Guernsey and Alderney privateers took 221 prizes worth £981,300<ref name=PotS/>{{rp|168}} (in today's terms, about £100m). The Islands and Guernsey in particular provided an important element to the blockading of enemies of Britain.

During the late 17th century the grant by [[Charles II of England]] of an island to [[George Carteret]] the Bailiff of Jersey, which was renamed ''New Jersey'', combined with the Channel Island trading ships visiting New England saw Islanders setting up businesses and settling overseas. By the beginning of the 18th century, Guernsey's residents were starting to settle in North America.<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/legacies/immig_emig/channel_islands/guernsey/article_1.shtml Guernsey's emigrant children]. BBC – Legacies.</ref> [[Guernsey County, Ohio|Guernsey County]] was founded in Ohio in 1810.<ref name=PotS/>{{rp|281}}

Ordinary trade continued, fishing had always been an important business. Knitting was an important home industry, overseas shipping carrying such diverse goods as wood, sugar, rum, coal, tobacco, salt, textiles, finished goods, glass, emigrants and wine. Trading mainly with Europe, the West Indies and the Americas.<ref name=PotS/>{{rp|367}}