II. — Relations between Bermuda and the American Colonies 

 DURING the Revolutionary War. By A. E. Verrill. 



In this brief account the following subjects will be discussed : 



1. Commercial and social relations before the war ; dependence of 

 Bermuda on the Colonies for foodstuffs, clothing, etc. 



2. Seizure of the Bermuda gunpowder in 1775. 

 8. Bermuda privateers. 



4. Plans for the- captui'e of Bermuda by the Americans and 

 French. 



5. Biographical Sketches. 



In order to appreciate the attitude and conduct of "the inhabitants 

 of the Bermudas during the Revolutionary war, it is necessary to 

 consider the peculiar conditions under which they had long lived 

 and their intimate relations with, and dependence upon, the Ameri- 

 can Colonies. 



1. Commercial and social relations. 



After the decline and final cessation of tobacco cultivation,* about 

 1700, the inhabitants of Bermuda became very much impoverished, 

 for they had few products to export and were unable to raise sufli- 

 cient foodstuffs to support themselves. This condition continued 

 down to and after the Revolutionary war. 



During that period they were largely dependent upon their traffic 

 with the American Colonies for their food and clothing. Cessation 

 of that traffic meant destitution, if not famine, for them. The 

 islands were over-populatedf and they had a superabundance of 

 negro slaves, without adequate employment for them. Agriculture 

 was pursued on a small scale and in the most primitive manner. 



The amount of arable land suitable for cei'eals Avas small. Culti- 

 vation of the soil by the whites was considered degrading. The 

 slaves were very ignorant and without proper tools, plows and har- 

 rows being then unknown there.]; Under such circumstances many 

 of the more enterprising men emigrated to America and went into com- 



*See The Bermuda Islands, A. E. Verrill, vol. i, pp. 555-560. 



f The population in 1787 was estimated at 10,381, of whom 4,919 were colored. 

 See The Bermuda Islands, vol. i, pp. 561-565, 570. 



X Plows, yokes, and various other agricultural implements were first intro- 

 duced by Governor Reid, 1839-40. See The Bermuda Islands, i, pp. 557, 895. 



Trans. Conn. Acad. Vol. XIII. 4 June, 1907. 



