Eleutheran Adventurers
Encyclopedia
The Eleutheran Adventurers were a group of English Puritan
s and religious Independents
who left Bermuda
to settle on the island of Eleuthera
in the Bahamas in the late 1640s. This group represents the first concerted European effort to colonize the Bahamas
– no effort was made while the islands were under Spanish
rule – but their claim to the islands would not survive the political turmoil of the Restoration in England.
The mid-17th century was a period of constant religious and political turmoil in England
and in Europe
which culminated in the English Civil War fought between the king, Charles I and Parliament, represented by the Puritan Oliver Cromwell. This conflict spread to Bermuda where a period of civil strife resulted in a victory for the supporters of the Royalist
party in the English Civil War
. The struggle eventually led to the expulsion of those who did not swear allegiance to the Crown, particularly the colony's Puritans and independents. The small group of Puritan settlers, led by a man named William Sayle
, searched for a place in which they could freely practice their faith.
The English had laid claim to the Bahamas in 1629, but had made no permanent settlements. In 1644, in the midst of the English Civil War, the Bermudian
Independent Puritans sent an expedition to explore these new islands, but one vessel was lost and the other failed to find a suitable island. Nevertheless, sometime between spring 1646 and autumn 1648, Sayle took some seventy people to settle in the Bahamas. They made landfall on the island called Cigateo, which they named Eleutheria, from the Greek word for "freedom", although the name later became Eleuthera. The island's original inhabitants, the Lucayan
s, had been decimated through the slaving activities of the Spanish and the numerous European diseases, especially smallpox, that followed.
The colony was not an immediate success. Its soil yielded little production and the settlers barely got by during their first years. Sayle, however, was a very resourceful man, and secured a number of supplies from the mainland colonies. Despite this the colony did not do much better in the following years and in the end only a few hardcore settlers from the original Eleutherans were left. Sayle himself went on to become Governor of South Carolina
, but continued to have a vested personal interest in Eleuthera. He used this influence to secure some trade for the island and so helped the community through its infancy.
This episode is thought to be the historical source of Andrew Marvell's poem "Bermudas," written in praise of the Puritan settlers of the New World, and one of the earliest statements of the so-called "American Dream". According to the Norton Anthology of English Literature (7th ed., p. 1686), "The poem was probably written after 1653, when Marvell took up residence in the house of John Oxenbridge, who had twice visited the Bermudas."
Puritan
The Puritans were a significant grouping of English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries. Puritanism in this sense was founded by some Marian exiles from the clergy shortly after the accession of Elizabeth I of England in 1558, as an activist movement within the Church of England...
s and religious Independents
Independent (religion)
In English church history, Independents advocated local congregational control of religious and church matters, without any wider geographical hierarchy, either ecclesiastical or political...
who left Bermuda
Bermuda
Bermuda is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. Located off the east coast of the United States, its nearest landmass is Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. It is about south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and northeast of Miami, Florida...
to settle on the island of Eleuthera
Eleuthera
Eleuthera is an island in The Bahamas, lying 50 miles east of Nassau. It is very long and thin—110 miles long and in places little more than a mile wide. According to the 2000 Census, the population of Eleuthera is approximately 8,000...
in the Bahamas in the late 1640s. This group represents the first concerted European effort to colonize the Bahamas
The Bahamas
The Bahamas , officially the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, is a nation consisting of 29 islands, 661 cays, and 2,387 islets . It is located in the Atlantic Ocean north of Cuba and Hispaniola , northwest of the Turks and Caicos Islands, and southeast of the United States...
– no effort was made while the islands were under Spanish
Spanish Empire
The Spanish Empire comprised territories and colonies administered directly by Spain in Europe, in America, Africa, Asia and Oceania. It originated during the Age of Exploration and was therefore one of the first global empires. At the time of Habsburgs, Spain reached the peak of its world power....
rule – but their claim to the islands would not survive the political turmoil of the Restoration in England.
The mid-17th century was a period of constant religious and political turmoil in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
which culminated in the English Civil War fought between the king, Charles I and Parliament, represented by the Puritan Oliver Cromwell. This conflict spread to Bermuda where a period of civil strife resulted in a victory for the supporters of the Royalist
Cavalier
Cavalier was the name used by Parliamentarians for a Royalist supporter of King Charles I and son Charles II during the English Civil War, the Interregnum, and the Restoration...
party in the English Civil War
English Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
. The struggle eventually led to the expulsion of those who did not swear allegiance to the Crown, particularly the colony's Puritans and independents. The small group of Puritan settlers, led by a man named William Sayle
William Sayle
William Sayle was an explorer, settler of the Bahamas, and the first governor of colonial South Carolina from 1670–71.William Sayle established the first English settlement of the Bahamas between 1646–48 on the island of Eleuthera, although his legal claim to proprietorship in the Bahamas now...
, searched for a place in which they could freely practice their faith.
The English had laid claim to the Bahamas in 1629, but had made no permanent settlements. In 1644, in the midst of the English Civil War, the Bermudian
Bermuda
Bermuda is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. Located off the east coast of the United States, its nearest landmass is Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. It is about south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and northeast of Miami, Florida...
Independent Puritans sent an expedition to explore these new islands, but one vessel was lost and the other failed to find a suitable island. Nevertheless, sometime between spring 1646 and autumn 1648, Sayle took some seventy people to settle in the Bahamas. They made landfall on the island called Cigateo, which they named Eleutheria, from the Greek word for "freedom", although the name later became Eleuthera. The island's original inhabitants, the Lucayan
Lucayan
The Lucayan were the original inhabitants of the Bahamas before the arrival of Europeans. They were a branch of the Taínos who inhabited most of the Caribbean islands at the time. The Lucayans were the first inhabitants of the Americas encountered by Christopher Columbus...
s, had been decimated through the slaving activities of the Spanish and the numerous European diseases, especially smallpox, that followed.
The colony was not an immediate success. Its soil yielded little production and the settlers barely got by during their first years. Sayle, however, was a very resourceful man, and secured a number of supplies from the mainland colonies. Despite this the colony did not do much better in the following years and in the end only a few hardcore settlers from the original Eleutherans were left. Sayle himself went on to become Governor of South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
, but continued to have a vested personal interest in Eleuthera. He used this influence to secure some trade for the island and so helped the community through its infancy.
This episode is thought to be the historical source of Andrew Marvell's poem "Bermudas," written in praise of the Puritan settlers of the New World, and one of the earliest statements of the so-called "American Dream". According to the Norton Anthology of English Literature (7th ed., p. 1686), "The poem was probably written after 1653, when Marvell took up residence in the house of John Oxenbridge, who had twice visited the Bermudas."