Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Because Bermuda has enacted
favorable economic measures, more
than 6,000 international companies
are registered there. The companies
engage mostly in investment holding,
insurance, commercial trading, con-
sulting services, and shipping—but
fewer than 275 companies are actually
on the island. The reason for this curious situation? Bermuda has no corporate or
income tax, so companies register on Bermuda but conduct business in their home
countries, thereby avoiding taxes that their home countries would otherwise deduct.
The island's leading exports are pharmaceuticals, concentrates (primarily black
rum and sherry peppers), perfumes, and beverages. Leading imports include food-
stuffs, alcoholic beverages, clothing, furniture, fuel, electrical appliances, and motor
vehicles. Bermuda's major trading partners are the United States, Great Britain,
Canada, the Netherlands, and the Caribbean states.
Impressions
You go to heaven if you want to—I'd
rather stay here in Bermuda.
—Mark Twain, in a letter to Elizabeth
Wallace, 1910
2
LOOKING BACK AT BERMUDA
The Early Years
The discovery of the Bermudas is attributed to the Spanish—probably the navigator
Juan Bermúdez—sometime before 1511, because in that year a map published in the
Legatio Babylonica
included “La Bermuda” among the Atlantic islands. A little over a
century later, the English staked a claim to Bermuda and began colonization.
In 1609, the flagship of Admiral Sir George Somers, the
Sea Venture,
was wrecked
on Bermuda's reefs while en route to the colony at Jamestown, Virginia. The daunt-
less crew built two pinnaces (small sailing ships) and headed on to the American
colony, but three sailors hid out and remained on the island. They were Bermuda's
first European settlers. Just 3 years later, the Bermuda islands were included in the
charter of the Virginia Company, and 60 colonists were sent there from England. St.
George Town was founded soon after.
Bermuda's status as a colony dates from 1620, when the first parliament convened.
Bermuda's is the oldest parliament in continuous existence in the British Common-
wealth. In 1684, Bermuda became a British Crown Colony under King Charles II,
and Sir Robert Robinson was appointed the colony's first governor.
Slavery became a part of life in Bermuda shortly after the official settlement.
Although the majority of slaves came from Africa, a few were Native Americans.
Later, Scots imprisoned for fighting against Cromwell were sent to the islands, fol-
lowed in 1651 by Irish slaves. This servitude, however, was not as lengthy as that of
plantation slaves in America and the West Indies. The British Emancipation Act of
1834 freed all slaves.
Relations with America
Early on, Bermuda established close links with the American colonies. The islanders
set up a thriving mercantile trade on the Eastern Seaboard, especially with southern
ports. The major commodity sold by Bermuda's merchant ships was salt from Turks
Island.
During the American Revolution, the rebellious colonies cut off trade with Loyalist
Bermuda, despite the network of family connections and close friendships that bound
