Bermuda

Bermuda is a chain of low islands in the western North Atlantic, surrounded by coral reefs and far from the American mainland. Its sheltered harbours offered ships a refuge, but the reefs could be perilous to vessels approaching the islands. The Spanish navigator Juan Bermúdez knew the archipelago in the early sixteenth century, and it took its name from him.

In 1609 the English ship Sea Venture, carrying settlers and supplies to Virginia, was driven onto Bermuda's reefs during a hurricane. Its survivors built vessels and continued to Jamestown. Their accounts drew English attention to the islands, and permanent settlement began at St George in 1612. Fortifications guarded the harbour approaches as Bermuda developed into an Atlantic colony. Enslaved Africans and Indigenous Americans were brought to the islands; slavery remained part of Bermudian life until emancipation in 1834.