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For many centuries the harbors of Nassau were protected from sight because they were hidden among a tangle of islands poised between the Atlantic and Caribbean. Their harbors were the refuge for the... |
For many centuries the harbors of Nassau were protected from sight because they were hidden among a tangle of islands poised between the Atlantic and Caribbean. Their harbors were the refuge for the religious rebels, ship wreckers, pirates, freed slaves, blockade-runners, and rum smugglers.
The Bahamian island of Guanahani was called San Salvador when Christopher Columbus first came ashore. The original residents of the island were the Lucayans, Columbus described these people as peaceful and loving and generous of heart. Columbus claimed this land for Spain. In Spain’s quest for gold they focused on other places in the Caribbean. In 1629, Charles I of England claimed the Carolinas and threw in the Bahamas. Little did he know the effect this small gesture would have on the future of the Bahamas. The English and the Americans have the major influences in the development of the Bahamas.
In 1648, William Sayles and his Eleutheran Followers landed briefly in Nassau’s harbor during their search for a place to establish a Puritan colony. They sailed the south to the island known today as Eleuthera Island. Their ship wrecked on the reef known as the Devil’s Spine, which chose their home for them. Those that survived were the first English settlers in the Bahamas.
In Nassau, which was first named Charles Town in 1666 and renamed Nassau in 1695, wrecked ships were the livelihood for the residents. If bad weather or poor maps didn’t bring enough wrecked ships their way, then the townsfolk would light lamps and place them on the reefs to lure ships to their downfall. The English government approved none of this activity, but the English did however put a seal of approval on piracy.
England was constantly at war during the 17th century and the Royal Navy was kept busy. So a Letter of Marque was given to all sea captains called “privateers”. This letter gave them permission by the government of England to attack any enemy ships they run across. Piracy was born and was quickly out of control. In Nassau a “Privateer’s Republic” was born.
Edward Teach, also known as Blackbeard, declared himself Nassau’s magistrate. Calico Jack Rackham, Anne Bonney and Mary Read were just some of the infamous pirates who made their home in Nassau.
After England signed treaties with their enemies, the privateer who had taken advantage of the Letter of Marque and exceeded the limits set by the letter, were considered to be criminals. Their republic in Nassau ended in 1718. England sent Governor Woodes Rogers to Nassau with three well-armed warships and the motto Pirates Expelled-Commerce Restored.
The Bahamas became an English royal colony. During the American Revolution many of the Loyalists fled the war and went to Nassau, some of them brought slaves from the plantation with them. But there were no plantations in the Bahamas and the way of life never caught on. In 1807 England’s Parliament banned slave trade, many slave ships were intercepted by the Royal Navy and the West Africans on the ship who had been captured were set free on the Bahamas. By 1834 three quarters of Bahamas residents were from West Africa when England declared general Emancipation.. A settlement was established for the West Africans called the Over the Hill district.
During the American Civil War, privateering was brought back to life. England and Nassau ignored the North’s blockade and traded with the Southern states. The character Rhett Butler was a well-known man in Nassau. Later during the Prohibition Nassau ignored the United States again by smuggling liquor into Southern ports, until President Roosevelt repealed the amendment.
In the 1940s, King Edward VIII relinquished his throne to marry the women he loved. They settled in Nassau and were known as the Duke and Duchess of Windsor. This began a new era of peaceful glamour and brought many visitors and developers to the island.
In 1952 a young politician named Lynden Pindling formed the Progressive Liberal Party. Pindling had grown up in the Over the Hill district where the other West African lived, but it was the party he created the Progressive Liberal Party, which led the nation 20 years later to vote for independence from England. The islands still have strong ties to England. They have chosen to remain within the Commonwealth and they declare allegiance to the Queen. The Government House is the official residence of the governor-general and you can witness the Changing of the Guard twice a month or even have a cup of tea with the governess.