British Bahamas

British Crown Colony of the Bahamas
British Crown Colony of the Bahamas
	Flag of the Crown Colony of the Bahamas
	Motto: Expulsis piratis, Restituta commercia (Pirates repulsed, Commerce Restored)
	19th century map of the Crown Colony of the Bahamas
Capital	Nassau
Official languages	English Bahamian Creole Native Languages
Religion	Puritanism Anglicanism
Demonym(s)	Bahamian
Government	Crown Colony
Establishment	1648 CE
Preceded by	Succeeded by
	Early English Settlers
	Taíno People
	Lucayan People
	Pirate Republic
Commonwealth of the Bahamas
Today part of	The Bahamas

Last updated January 07, 2025

The British Bahamas were a British colony that existed from 1648 until 1973, when it became an independent nation.^[1] It is also referred to as the British Administered Bahamas, Commonwealth of the Bahamas, or the Crown Colony of the Bahamas. The colony changed hands between private settlers, English lords, and the British Crown of the United Kingdom during the 325 years it was a colony.^[1] The Bahamas territory is an archipelago of approximately 700 islands and 30 reefs located in the Atlantic Ocean in the region of the Caribbean. The nation was dissolved in 1973 during Bahamian independence.

History

Initial Grant

In 1629, King Charles granted the territories of “Bahama and all other Isles and Islands lying southerly there or neare upon the foresayd continent.”^[1] to attorney general Robert Heath. No effort to explore or settle the islands would ever be made on the part of Heath, and Englishmen would not arrive there in earnest for another decade.^[1]

First Settlements

The arrival of the Spanish in the early 16th century largely destroyed the native Lucayan and Taino populations, who were enslaved and transported to other colonies, leaving the islands relatively uninhabited by the mid-16th century.^[2]

British interest in the Bahamas emerged in 1647. Captain William Sayle, who had twice been governor of Bermuda, took the leadership of seeking a colony that would be a haven for religious freedom. Sayle and about 70 settlers, consisting of Bermudan religious independents sailed from Bermuda for the Bahamas by October 1648.^[1]^[2]

Distribution of Taino and other tribal peoples in the Caribbean prior to European contact Tainos.svg — Distribution of Taino and other tribal peoples in the Caribbean prior to European contact

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The settlers from Bermuda established a colony called Eleuthera ^[3]^[1] in 1648, naming it after the Greek word for freedom. These settlers were known as the Eleutheran Adventurers and sought religious liberty and economic opportunity.^[1] Their initial attempts to establish a sustainable colony faced challenges, including scarce resources and conflicts with the Spanish. Settlers anticipated to establish a plantation colony for sugar and tobacco, but found the soil relatively unproductive.^[1] Sayle, along with a number of the initial settlers, returned to Bermuda. The remaining settlers founded communities on Harbour Island and Saint George's Cay (Spanish Wells) at the north end of Eleuthera. In 1670 about 20 families lived in the Eleuthera communities.^[4]^[1]

In 1666, a new wave of settlers arrived from Bermuda and established the city of New Providence. Charlestowne, named for Charles II, was established as well.^[3] Charlestowne was later renamed to Nassau, after King William III assumed the throne, with the German region of Nassau being in his family's possession.^[1] Lords proprietors, whom King Charles II had granted the colony of South Carolina on the American mainland, grew interested in the prospects of the Bahamas. They appointed Sayle as governor over South Carolina.^[1] In 1670, The Duke of Abemarle and five other lords were given a grant to establish a civil government in the Bahamas. New Providence was made the seat of government. John Wentworth was appointed as the first governor in 1671.^[3]

This settlement laid the groundwork for future British expansion in the region.

Pirate Republic

The permanent settlement of the Bahamas began several decades of organised pirate activity in the islands, with figures like Edward Teach (Blackbeard) and Calico Jack using the Bahamas as a base.^[5] A loose confederation of pirate gangs operated a short-lived republic, with its base at Nassau. Many European criminals sought riches in the New World. Englishmen who were there due to initial waves of settlement often turned to piracy, as it was lucrative, and other means of subsistence in the territory were relatively ineffective. Buccaneers heavily raided Spanish ships and fleets, leading to frequent retaliatory raids.^[1]^[5] The proprietors were not active in defending the islands or incriminating the pirates at first. This period is often known as the Golden Age of Piracy in the Caribbean.^[5]

Crown Colony and Campaign Against Piracy

Statue of governor Woodes Rogers in Nassau WoodesRogersStatueNassau.jpg — Statue of governor Woodes Rogers in Nassau

In 1717, the lords proprietors returned the islands to the crown, and the Bahamas became a British Crown Colony. Captain Woodes Rogers was appointed as the new royal governor.^[1] Rogers implemented strict measures to suppress piracy. King George appointed Rogers to oversee the execution of a proclamation granting a pardon to any pirate who surrendered to a British crown within one year. When he arrived with an army in 1718, 1,000 pirates surrendered and received royal pardons. 8 pirates were hanged. Rogers declared the islands "clean" of pirates by the end of 1718.^[2]

The Bahamas developed under British rule as a strategic and economic outpost. Its location along transatlantic trade routes made it a valuable asset, while its economy relied on maritime activities, including fishing, shipbuilding, and salt production. The introduction of enslaved Africans underpinned the development of plantation agriculture, particularly cotton, though the islands' poor soil limited large-scale success.^[6]

Nassau was briefly captured by the United States Navy in 1776 during the American Revolution but was returned after a few days.^[1] After the revolution, many loyalist American colonists settled in the Bahamas due to favourable living conditions offered by the crown. Many of the American settlers brought slaves with them and increased the population.^[6] Cotton plantations were established, and yielded well briefly, but were soon exhausted due to soil quality and insect pests. The Bahamas experienced multiple slave revolts during this time period leading up to abolition.^[6]

Abolition of Slavery

The abolition of slavery throughout the British Empire in 1834 marked a significant turning point. Former slaves in the Bahamas faced limited economic opportunities but gradually built communities centered around fishing, farming, and small-scale trade.^[6] Former slaves and slave masters struggled to coexist on the islands, and social tensions were high.^[6] Over time, African cultural influences profoundly shaped Bahamian society.

During the American Civil War, the Bahamas experienced an economic boom as a center for Confederate blockade running. However, the collapse of the Confederacy brought an end to this prosperity. Similarly, during Prohibition in the United States, the Bahamas became a hub for rum-running, providing another short-lived economic boost.^[1]

The 20th century brought gradual political reforms. The Bahamian Progressive Liberal Party (PLP), formed in 1953, championed the rights of the predominantly Black majority, challenging the political dominance of the White merchant elite. This movement laid the groundwork for the islands’ eventual push for self-governance.^[1]

Independence

In 1964, the Bahamas achieved internal self-government under a new constitution, with Lynden Pindling becoming the country's first Black Premier in 1967.^[1] Pindling, leader of the PLP, played a central role in advocating for greater autonomy and addressing social inequalities. These events officially ended the Crown Colony of the Bahamas and transitioned the country to independence.

The Bahamas gained full independence on July 10, 1973, becoming a sovereign nation within the Commonwealth. The British monarch remained the ceremonial head of state, represented by a Governor-General, while the Bahamas established its own parliamentary democracy.

Related Research Articles

The Bahamas, officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean. It contains 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and 88% of its population. The archipelagic country consists of more than 3,000 islands, cays, and islets in the Atlantic Ocean, and is located north of Cuba and northwest of the island of Hispaniola and the Turks and Caicos Islands, southeast of the U.S. state of Florida and east of the Florida Keys. The capital is Nassau on the island of New Providence. The Royal Bahamas Defence Force describes the Bahamas' territory as encompassing 470,000 km² (180,000 sq mi) of ocean space.

Nassau is the capital and largest city of the Bahamas. It is located on the island of New Providence, which had a population of 246,329 in 2010, or just over 70% of the entire population of the Bahamas. As of April 2023, the preliminary results of the 2022 census of the Bahamas reported a population of 296,522 for New Providence, 74.26% of the country's population. Nassau is commonly defined as a primate city, dwarfing all other towns in the country. It is the centre of commerce, education, law, administration, and media of the country.

The earliest arrival of people in the islands now known as the Bahamas was in the first millennium AD. The first inhabitants of the islands were the Lucayans, an Arawakan language-speaking Taino people, who arrived between about 500 and 800 AD from other islands of the Caribbean.

The era of piracy in the Caribbean began in the 1500s and phased out in the 1830s after the navies of the nations of Western Europe and North America with colonies in the Caribbean began hunting and prosecuting pirates. The period during which pirates were most successful was from the 1650s to the 1730s. Piracy flourished in the Caribbean because of the existence of pirate seaports such as Port Royal in Jamaica, Tortuga in Haiti, and Nassau in the Bahamas. Piracy in the Caribbean was part of a larger historical phenomenon of piracy, as it existed close to major trade and exploration routes in almost all the five oceans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lynden Pindling</span> Bahamian politician (1930–2000)

Sir Lynden Oscar Pindling, KCMG, PC, NH, JP was a Bahamian politician who is regarded by some as the "Father of the Nation", having led the Bahamas to majority rule and independence.

New Providence is the most populous island in The Bahamas, containing more than 70% of the total population. On the eastern side of the island is the national capital city of Nassau; it had a population of 246,329 at the 2010 Census, and a population of 292,522 at the 2022 census. Nearly three quarters of The Bahamas's population lives in New Providence.

Andros Island is an archipelago within The Bahamas, the largest of the Bahamian Islands. Politically considered a single island, Andros in total has an area greater than all the other 700 Bahamian islands combined. The land area of Andros consists of hundreds of small islets and cays connected by mangrove estuaries and tidal swamplands, together with three major islands: North Andros, Mangrove Cay, and South Andros. The three main islands are separated by bights, estuaries that trifurcate the island from east to west. It is 167 kilometres (104 mi) long by 64 km (40 mi) wide at the widest point.

Eleuthera refers both to a single island in the archipelagic state of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas and to its associated group of smaller islands. Eleuthera forms a part of the Great Bahama Bank. The island of Eleuthera incorporates the smaller Harbour Island. "Eleuthera" derives from the feminine form of the Greek adjective ἐλεύθερος (eleútheros), meaning "free". Known in the 17th century as Cigateo, it lies 80 km east of Nassau. It is long and thin—180 km long and in places little more than 1.6 km wide. At its narrowest point, the Glass Window Bridge, which has been called the narrowest place on earth, Eleuthera stands 30 feet wide. Its eastern side faces the Atlantic Ocean and its western side faces the Great Bahama Bank. The topography of the island varies from wide rolling pink sand beaches to large outcrops of ancient coral reefs and the highest elevation point is 200 feet. The population is approximately 11,000 and the principal economy of the island is tourism.

The Eleutheran Adventurers were a group of English Puritans and religious Independents who left Bermuda to settle on the island of Eleuthera in the Bahamas in the late 1640s. The small group of Puritan settlers, led by William Sayle, were expelled from Bermuda for their failure to swear allegiance to the Crown and left in search of a place in which they could freely practice their faith. This group represented the first concerted European effort to colonize the Bahamas.

Captain William Sayle was a prominent English landholder who was Governor of Bermuda in 1643 and again in 1658. As an Independent in religion and politics, and an adherent of Oliver Cromwell, he was dissatisfied with life in Bermuda, and so founded the company of the Eleutheran Adventurers who became the first European settlers of the Bahamas between 1646 and 1648. He later became the first governor of colonial South Carolina from 1670 to 1671.

The term British West Indies refers to the former English and British colonies and the present-day overseas territories of the United Kingdom in the Caribbean.

The Parliament of The Bahamas is the bicameral national parliament of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas. The parliament is formally made up of the sovereign, an appointed Senate, and an elected House of Assembly. It currently sits at the Bahamian Parliament Building in Nassau, the national capital.

Sir Henry Milton Taylor was the fourth governor-general of the Bahamas, serving from February 28, 1991, to January 2, 1992.

Afro-Bahamians are an ethnicity originating in the Bahamas of predominantly or partial native African descent. They are descendants of various African ethnic groups, many associated with the Bight of Biafra, Ghana, Songhai and Mali, the various Fula kingdoms, the Oyo Empire, and the Kingdom of Kongo. According to the 2010 census, 92.7% of The Bahamas' population identifies as mixed African descent.

White Bahamians are Bahamian citizens of European ancestry, most of whom trace their ancestry back to England, Scotland and Ireland. Bahamians of European descent are sometimes called "Conchs", a term that is also applied to people of White Bahamian descent in Florida. White Bahamians were a majority in the 18th century, but now constitute less than 10% of the Bahamian population.

The Raid on Nassau was a Spanish military expedition that took place in February 1720 at the end of the War of the Quadruple Alliance wherein Spanish forces assaulted the British settlement of Nassau in an attempt to seize the island of New Providence. Although the Spanish managed to raid outlying posts, the assault on Nassau itself was repelled and the invasion was a failure.

The Raid on Charles Town, or Spanish raid on New Providence, was a Spanish naval expedition on 19 January 1684 (O.S.) led by Cuban corsair Juan de Alarcón against the English privateering stronghold of Charles Town, capital of the Bahamas. The Bahamian settlements and defenses were reduced to ruins, and the Spanish carried off the governor in chains, together with the inhabitants.

The Anglican Diocese of the Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands was originally established in 1861 as the Diocese of Nassau. Retitled the Diocese of Nassau and the Bahamas in 1942, it is now known as the Diocese of the Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands. It is a diocese of the Church in the Province of the West Indies, a constituent province of the Anglican Communion.

The Republic of Pirates was the base and stronghold of a loose confederacy run by privateers-turned-pirates in Nassau on New Providence island in the Bahamas during the Golden Age of Piracy for about twelve years from 1706 until 1718. While it was not a republic in a formal sense, it was governed by an informal pirate code, which dictated that the crews of the Republic would vote on the leadership of their ships and treat other pirate crews with civility. The term comes from Colin Woodard's book of the same name.

Bahamian nationality law is regulated by the 1973 Constitution of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, as amended; The Bahamas Nationality Act; The Bahamas Immigration Act; and various British Nationality laws. These laws determine who is, or is eligible to be, a national of The Bahamas. Bahamian nationality is typically obtained either on the principle of jus soli, i.e. by birth in The Bahamas; or under the rules of jus sanguinis, i.e. by birth abroad to a father with Bahamian nationality. It can also be granted to persons with an affiliation to the country, or to a permanent resident who has lived in the country for a given period of time through naturalisation. There is currently no program in The Bahamas for citizenship by investment. Nationality establishes one's international identity as a member of a sovereign nation. Though it is not synonymous with citizenship, rights granted under domestic law for domestic purposes, the United Kingdom, and thus the commonwealth, has traditionally used the words interchangeably.

References

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 "The Bahamas - British Colonization | Britannica". www.britannica.com. 2024-12-08. Retrieved 2024-12-11.
1 2 3 "Brief History of The Bahamas". www.nationsonline.org. Retrieved 2024-12-11.
1 2 3 "History - The Bahamas Guide". www.thebahamasguide.com/. Retrieved 2024-12-11.
↑ Albury:41-6 Johnson:3-4
1 2 3 "Nassau Pirate Republic: Home Of The Real Pirates Of The Caribbean | HistoryExtra". www.historyextra.com. Retrieved 2024-12-11.
1 2 3 4 5 Ballance, Virginia. "UB LibGuides: Emancipation But Not Freedom: Sleight of Hand, 1833-1838". cob-bs.libguides.com. Retrieved 2024-12-11.

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[:0-1] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 "The Bahamas - British Colonization | Britannica". www.britannica.com. 2024-12-08. Retrieved 2024-12-11.

[:1-2] 1 2 3 "Brief History of The Bahamas". www.nationsonline.org. Retrieved 2024-12-11.

[:2-3] 1 2 3 "History - The Bahamas Guide". www.thebahamasguide.com/. Retrieved 2024-12-11.

[4] Albury:41-6 Johnson:3-4

[:3-5] 1 2 3 "Nassau Pirate Republic: Home Of The Real Pirates Of The Caribbean | HistoryExtra". www.historyextra.com. Retrieved 2024-12-11.

[:4-6] 1 2 3 4 5 Ballance, Virginia. "UB LibGuides: Emancipation But Not Freedom: Sleight of Hand, 1833-1838". cob-bs.libguides.com. Retrieved 2024-12-11.

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