48 ^4. J£. Verrill — Relations heticeen Bermuda and the 



mcrce. Sonic utulertook the building of vessels, the Bermuda cedai* 

 being adTiiirably ada})ted for tliat use ; others erected salt works at 

 Turks Island, in the Bahamas,* and went there during the winter 

 season to manufacture salt, most of which they took to the American 

 Colonies to exchange for food and clothing, for salt was their princi- 

 pal export. Thus it came about that Bermudian vessels, for more 

 than sixty years, had monopolized a large part of the West Indian and 

 coastwise commerce of the American Colonies. Many native Ber- 

 mudians, from the best families, had gone to America for their educa- 

 tion, and many went ii^to business or the learned professions there. 

 These various intimate business relations and familv ties, as well as 

 their bwn cherished love of liberty, naturally led to friendliness and 

 s^^mpathy with the Americans during the war. Besides, they had 

 themselves suffered greatly, in previous yeai's, by oppressive English 

 laws. The Berniudians, however, like the Americans, were divided 

 into two parties. Those who were opposed to the British Govern- 

 ment, or at least to its treatment of the Colonies, seem to have been 

 largely in the majority. They were repeatedly denounced by the 

 Governors as rebels and traitors. On the other hand, even the mem- 

 bers of the Assembly did not hesitate to openly oppose and criticise 

 Governor Bruere in no measured terms, w^hile he in turn denounced 

 them and other local officials as traitors. This mutual enmity con- 

 tinued from 17 75 to 1782, under three successive governors. It cul- 

 minated in September, 1780, w^hen the Governor dissolved the legis- 

 lative Assembly for rebellious conduct. 



It is certain that very many of the inhabitants of Bermuda were 

 willing and ready to aid the Americans in every way they safely 

 could. It is also a matter of official record that the Continental 

 Congress granted very unusual and highly important favors to the 

 Bermudians, by sending them large amounts of provisions ; allow- 

 ing them free importation of salt ; permitting them to enter the 

 harbors ; and exempting their vessels from capture by American 

 privateers. Such privileges were not granted to other English 

 colonies. If the American Colonies could have maintained a suita- 

 ble fleet to hold the islands, their capture would have been easy, a!id 

 no doubt welcomed by the majority of the people. 



The first act of the Colonies that affected Bermuda was the reso- 

 lution adopted Friday, the 30th of September, 1774 :f "Resolved, 



* The Bermndians erected salt works there as early as 1678. See The Ber- 

 muda Islands, i, p. 520. 



f Secret Journals of the Continental Congress, vol. 1, p. 121 (Philad. ed, 

 1800). 



