History of the Bahamas - wikipedia History of the Bahamas Part of a series on the History of the Bahamas Battle of Nassau Colonial Governors Eleutheran Adventurers Guanahani The Lucayans Wrecking Bahamas and the American Civil War Bahamas portal The earliest arrival of humans 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 - speaking Taino people, who arrived between about 500 and 800 AD from other islands of the Caribbean. Their ancestors came from mainland South America, where Arawakan - language peoples were present in most territories, and especially along the northeastern coast. Recorded history began on 12 October 1492, when Christopher Columbus landed on the island of Guanahani, which he renamed San Salvador Island on his first voyage to the New World. The earliest permanent European settlement was in 1648 on Eleuthera. During the 18th century slave trade, many Africans were brought to the Bahamas as labourers. Their descendants now constitute 85 % of the Bahamian population. The Bahamas gained independence from the United Kingdom on July 10, 1973. Contents 1 Pre-history 2 Early English settlement 3 Wreckers, privateers and pirates 4 Reclaiming Bahamas for the Crown 5 Mid-century 6 Loyalists, slaves and Black Seminoles 7 Post-emancipation 8 Late - colonial period 9 The Bahamas at War 9.1 Riot 9.2 Post-war period 10 Political developments 11 See also 12 Notes 13 References 14 Further reading 15 External links Pre-history Sometime between 500 and 800 AD, Taínos began crossing in dugout canoes from Hispaniola and / or Cuba to the Bahamas. Suggested routes for the earliest migrations have been from Hispaniola to the Caicos Islands, from Hispaniola or eastern Cuba to Great Inagua Island, and from central Cuba to Long Island ( in the central Bahamas ). William Keegan argues that the most likely route was from Hispaniola or Cuba to Great Inagua. Granberry and Vescelius argue for two migrations, from Hispaniola to the Turks and Caicos Islands, and from Cuba to Great Inagua. From the initial colonization ( s ), the Lucayan expanded throughout the Bahamas in some 800 years ( c. 700 -- c. 1500 ), growing to a population of about 40,000. Population density at the time of first European contact was highest in the south - central area of the Bahamas, declining towards the north, reflecting the migration pattern and progressively shorter time of occupation of the northern islands. Known Lucayan settlement sites are confined to the nineteen largest islands in the archipelago, or to smaller cays located less than one km. from those islands. Population density in the southern-most Bahamas remained lower, probably due to the drier climate there ( less than 800 mm of rain a year on Great Inagua Island and the Turks and Caicos Islands and only slightly higher on Acklins and Crooked Islands and Mayaguana ). In 1492 Christopher Columbus sailed from Spain on his first voyage with three ships, the Niña, the Pinta, and the flagship, Santa Maria, seeking a direct route to Asia. On 12 October 1492 Columbus reached an island in the Bahamas and claimed it for Spain, an event long regarded by Europeans as the ' discovery ' of America. This island was called Guanahani by the Lucayan, and San Salvador by the Spanish. The identity of the first American landfall by Columbus remains controversial, but many authors accept Samuel E. Morison 's identification of Columbus ' San Salvador as what was later called Watling ( or Watling 's ) Island. Its name has been officially changed to San Salvador. Columbus visited several other islands in the Bahamas before sailing to present - day Cuba and afterwards to Hispaniola. The Bahamas held little interest to the Spanish except as a source of slave labor. Nearly the entire population of Lucayan ( almost 40,000 people total ) were transported to other islands as laborers over the next 30 years. When the Spanish decided to remove the remaining Lucayans to Hispaniola in 1520, they could find only eleven. The islands remained abandoned and depopulated for 130 years afterwards. With no gold to be found, and the population removed, the Spanish effectively abandoned the Bahamas. They retained titular claims to them until the Treaty of Paris in 1783, when they ceded them to Britain in exchange for East Florida. When Europeans first landed on the islands, they reported the Bahamas were lushly forested. Cleared to develop the land for sugarcane plantations, the forests have not regrown and have not been replanted. Early English settlement For many years, historians believed that The Bahamas was not colonized until the 17th century. However, recent studies show that there may have been attempts of colonization by groups from Spain, France, Britain, the Netherlands, and other Amerindians. The French settled in Abaco in 1565, and tried again in 1625. In 1648 a group from Bermuda called ' The Company of Adventurers for the Plantation of the Islands of Eleutheria, ' which was led by William Sayle, sailed to the Bahamas to found a colony. These early settlers were Puritans and republicans. Bermuda was becoming overcrowded, and the Bahamas offered both religious and political freedom and economic opportunity. The larger of the company 's two ships, the William, wrecked on the reef at the north end of what is now called Eleuthera Island, with the loss of all provisions. Despite the arrival of additional settlers, including Europeans, slaves and former African slaves from Bermuda and the receipt of relief supplies from Virginia and New England, the Eleuthera colony struggled for many years. It was hampered because of poor soil, fighting between settlers, and conflict with the Spanish. In the mid-1650s many of the 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. In 1666 other colonists from Bermuda settled on New Providence, which soon became the center of population and commerce in the Bahamas, with almost 500 people living on the island by 1670. Unlike the Eleutherians, who were primarily farmers, the first settlers on New Providence made their living from the sea, salvaging ( mainly Spanish ) wrecks, making salt, and taking fish, turtles, conchs and ambergris. Farmers from Bermuda soon followed the seamen to New Providence, where they found good, plentiful land. Neither the Eleutherian colony nor the settlement on New Providence had any legal standing under English law. In 1670 the Proprietors of Carolina were issued a patent for the Bahamas, but the governors sent by the Proprietors had difficulty imposing their authority on the independent - minded residents of New Providence. The early settlers continued to live much as they had in Bermuda, fishing, hunting turtles, whales, and seals, finding ambergris, making salt on the drier islands, cutting the abundant hardwoods of the islands for lumber, dyewood and medicinal bark ; and wrecking, or salvaging wrecks. The Bahamas were close to the sailing routes between Europe and the Caribbean, so shipwrecks in the islands were common, and wrecking was the most lucrative occupation available to the Bahamians. Wreckers, privateers and pirates The Bahamians soon came into conflict with the Spanish over the salvaging of wrecks. The Bahamian wreckers drove the Spanish away from their wrecked ships, and attacked Spanish salvagers, seizing goods the Spanish had already recovered from the wrecks. When the Spanish raided the Bahamas, the Bahamians in turn commissioned privateers against Spain, even though England and Spain were at peace. In 1684 the Spanish burned the settlements on New Providence and Eleuthera, after which they were largely abandoned. New Providence was settled a second time in 1686 by colonists from Jamaica. In the 1690s English privateers ( England was then at war with France ) made a base in the Bahamas. In 1696 Henry Every ( or Avery ), using the assumed name Henry Bridgeman, brought his ship Fancy, loaded with pirates ' loot, into Nassau harbor. Every bribed the governor, Nicholas Trott ( uncle of the Nicholas Trott who presided at the trial of Stede Bonnet ), with gold and silver, and by leaving him the Fancy, still loaded with 50 tons of elephant tusks an average haul for a slaver and 100 barrels of gunpowder exceedingly rare. Following peace with France in 1697, many of the privateers became pirates. From this time the pirates increasingly made Nassau, the Bahamian capital founded in 1694, their base. The governors appointed by the Proprietors usually made a show of suppressing the pirates, but most were accused of dealing with them. By 1701 England was at war with France and Spain. In 1703 and in 1706 combined French - Spanish fleets attacked and sacked Nassau, after which some settlers left, and the Proprietors gave up on trying to govern the islands. With no functioning government in the Bahamas, English privateers operated from Nassau as their base, in what has been called a `` privateers ' republic, '' which lasted for eleven years. The raiders attacked French and Spanish ships, while French and Spanish forces burned Nassau several times. The War of the Spanish Succession ended in 1714, but some privateers were slow to get the news, or reluctant to accept it, and slipped into piracy. One estimate puts at least 1,000 pirates in the Bahamas in 1713, outnumbering the 200 families of more permanent settlers. The `` privateers ' republic '' in Nassau became a `` pirates ' republic ''. At least 20 pirate captains used Nassau or other places in the Bahamas as a home port during this period, including Henry Jennings, Edward Teach ( Blackbeard ), Benjamin Hornigold and Stede Bonnet. Many settler families moved from New Providence to Eleuthera or Abaco to escape harassment from the pirates. On the other hand, residents of Harbor Island were happy to serve as middlemen for the pirates, as merchants from New England and Virginia came there to exchange needed supplies for pirate plunder. As mentioned above, the activities of pirates provoked frequent and brutal retaliatory attacks by the French and Spanish. Reclaiming Bahamas for the crown Starting in 1713, Woodes Rogers had conceived the idea of leading an expedition to Madagascar to suppress the pirates there and establish it as a British colony. Rogers ' friends Richard Steele and Joseph Addison eventually convinced him to tackle the pirates nest in the Bahamas, instead. Rogers and others formed a company to fund the venture. They persuaded the Proprietors of Carolina to surrender the government of the Bahamas to the king, while retaining title to the land. In 1717 King George appointed Rogers governor of the Bahamas and issued a proclamation granting a pardon to any pirate who surrendered to a British governor within one year. Word of the appointment of a new governor and of the offer of pardons reached Nassau ahead of Rogers and his forces. Some of the pirates were willing to accept a pardon and retire from piracy. Henry Jennings and Christopher Winter, sailed off to find British authorities to confirm their acceptance of the amnesty. Others were not ready to give up. Many of those were Jacobites, supporters of the House of Stuart, who identified as enemies of the Hanoverian King George. Still others simply identified as rebels, or thought they were better off as pirates than trying to earn an honest living. When a Royal Navy ship brought official word to Nassau of the pardon offer, many pirates planned to accept. Soon, however, the recalcitrant parties gained the upper hand, eventually forcing the Navy ship to leave. Blackbeard, Stede Bonnet, Nicholas Brown and Edmond Condent left the Bahamas for other territories. Charles Vane, with `` Calico Jack '' Rackham and Edward England in his crew, came to prominence at this time. Vane worked to organize resistance to the anticipated arrival of Royal authority, even appealing to the James Francis Edward Stuart, the Stuart pretender, for aid in holding the Bahamas and capturing Bermuda for the Stuarts. As aid from the Stuarts failed to materialize and the date for Rogers ' arrival approached, Vane and his crew prepared to leave Nassau. Woodes Rogers arrived in Nassau in late July 1718, with his own 460 - ton warship, three ships belonging to his company, and an escort of three ships of the Royal Navy. Vane 's ship was trapped in Nassau harbor. His crew set that ship on fire, sending it towards Rogers ' ships, and escaped in the ensuing confusion in a smaller ship they had seized from another pirate. The remaining population welcomed Rogers ; they comprised about 200 settlers and 500 to 700 pirates who wanted to receive pardons, most prominently Benjamin Hornigold. After the pirates ' surrender, the Proprietors leased their land in the Bahamas to Rogers ' company for 21 years. Rogers controlled Nassau, but Charles Vane was loose and threatening to drive the governor and his forces out. Learning that the King of Spain wanted to expel English from the islands, Rogers worked to improve the defenses of Nassau. He lost nearly 100 men of the new forces due to an unidentified disease, and the Navy ships left for other assignments. Rogers sent four of his ships to Havana to assure the Spanish governor that he was suppressing piracy and to trade for supplies. The crews of ex-pirates and men who had come with Rogers all turned to piracy. The ex-pirate Benjamin Hornigold later caught ten men at Green Turtle Cay as part of Rogers ' suppression effort. Eight were found guilty and hanged in front of the fort. Vane attacked several small settlements in the Bahamas but, after he refused to attack a stronger French frigate, he was deposed for cowardice and replaced as captain by `` Calico Jack '' Rackham. Vane never returned to the Bahamas ; he was eventually caught, convicted and executed in Jamaica. After nearly being captured by Jamaican privateers, and hearing that the king had extended the deadline for pardons for piracy, Rackham and his crew returned to Nassau to surrender to Woodes Rogers. In Nassau Rackham became involved with Anne Bonny ; he tried to arrange an annulment of her marriage to another ex-pirate, James Bonny. Rogers blocked the annulment, and Rackham and Bonny left Nassau to be pirates again, taking a small crew and Bonny 's friend Mary Read with them. Within months, Rackham, Bonny and Read were captured and taken to Jamaica. They were convicted of piracy, and Rackham was executed. Bonny and Read were sent to prison, as both were pregnant and therefore excluded from execution. Read died in prison, while Bonny 's fate is unknown. When Britain and Spain went to war again in 1719, many of the ex-pirates were commissioned by the British government as privateers. A Spanish invasion fleet set out for the Bahamas, but was diverted to Pensacola, Florida when it was seized by the French. Rogers continued to improve the defenses of Nassau, spending his personal fortune and going heavily into debt to do so. A second Spanish invasion fleet in 1720 was deterred by the defenses ( and the accidental presence of a Royal Navy ship in Nassau ). Rogers returned to Britain in 1722 to plead for repayment of the money he had borrowed to build up Nassau, only to find he had been replaced as governor. He was sent to debtors ' prison, although his creditors later absolved his debts, gaining him release. After the publication in 1724 of A General History of the Robberies and Murders of the Most Notorious Pirates, which praised Rogers ' efforts to suppress piracy in the Bahamas, his fortunes began to improve. The king awarded him a pension, retroactive to 1721. In 1728 Rogers was appointed Governor of the Bahamas for a second term. He dissolved the colony 's assembly when it would not approve taxes to repair Nassau 's defenses. He died in Nassau in 1732. Mid-century In 1741, Governor John Tinker and Peter Henry Bruce constructed Fort Montague. Additionally, the Governor also reported a privateering boom in the Thirteen Colonies in North America. He also reported that over 2300 sumptuous houses were built and in 1768 Governor William Shirley filled in Mosquito breeding swamps and extended Nassau. Loyalists, slaves and Black Seminoles During the American War of Independence the Bahamas fell to Spanish forces under General Galvez in 1782. A British - American Loyalist expedition led by Colonel Andrew Deveaux, recaptured the islands in 1783. After the American Revolution, the British issued land grants to American Loyalists who went into exile. The sparse population of the Bahamas tripled within a few years. The Loyalists developed cotton as a commodity crop, but it dwindled from insect damage and soil exhaustion. In addition to slaves they brought with them, the planters ' descendants imported more African slaves for labour. Most of the current inhabitants in the islands are descended from the slaves brought to work on the Loyalist plantations. In addition, thousands of captive Africans, who were liberated from foreign slave ships by the British navy after the abolition of the slave trade in 1807, were resettled as free persons in the Bahamas. In the early 1820s, hundreds of African slaves and Black Seminoles escaped from Florida, most settling on Andros Island in the Bahamas. Three hundred escaped in a mass flight in 1823. While the flow was reduced by federal construction of a lighthouse at Cape Florida in 1825, slaves continued to find freedom in the Bahamas. In August 1834, the traditional plantation life ended with the British emancipation of slaves throughout most of its colonies. Freedmen chose to work on their own small plots of land when possible. Post-emancipation Main article : Bahamas in the American Civil War In the 1830s and 1840s, tensions rose between Britain and the United States after American merchant ships, part of the coastwise slave trade, put into Nassau or were wrecked on its reefs. These included the Hermosa ( 1840 ) and the Creole ( 1841 ), the latter brought in after a slave revolt on board. Britain had notified nations that slaves brought into Bahama and Bermuda waters would be forfeited and freed the slaves, refusing US efforts to recover them. In 1853 Britain and the US signed a claims treaty and submitted to arbitration for claims dating to 1814 ; they paid each other in 1855. During the American Civil War, the Bahamas prospered as a base for Confederate blockade - running, bringing in cotton to be shipped to the mills of England and running out arms and munitions. None of these provided any lasting prosperity to the islands, nor did attempts to grow different kinds of crops for export. With emancipation, Caribbean societies inherited a rigid racial stratification that was reinforced by the unequal distribution of wealth and power. The three - tier race structure, of whites, mixed - race, and primarily blacks, who comprised the large majority, existed well into the 1940s and in some societies beyond. Like African Americans, many also have European and Native American ancestry. Caribbean societies continue to struggle with racial issues. Late - colonial period In 1911, there was a short - lived movement to make the Bahamas part of Canada. Although the movement enjoyed the support of many in Nassau and from the head of Sun Life, a Canadian insurance company, the movement failed. The failure of the movement was, in part, due to the British government 's opposition to uniting a predominantly Black colony with a predominantly white country. The Bahamas at War In World War I organizations such as the Imperial Order of the Daughters of Empire and the Bahamas Red Cross Guild, began collecting money, food and clothing for soldiers and civilians in Europe. `` The Gallant Thirty '' Bahamians set out to join the British West Indies Regiment as early as 1915 and as many as 1,800 served in the armed forces of Canada, Britain and the United States. Riot Oakes Field the Bahamas first airport was opened in Nassau in January 1940, named after Harry Oakes, a millionaire who made a large contribution to its creation. Prior to that aviation in the Bahamas was largely carried out by seaplanes. The Duke of Windsor was installed as Governor of the Bahamas, arriving at that post in August 1940 with his new Duchess. They were appalled at the condition of Government House, but they `` tried to make the best of a bad situation. '' He did not enjoy the position, and referred to the islands as `` a third - class British colony ''. He opened the small local parliament on October 29, 1940, and they visited the ' Out Islands ' that November, which caused some controversy because of on whose yacht they were cruising. The British Foreign Office strenuously objected when the Duke and Duchess planned to tour aboard a yacht belonging to a Swedish magnate, Axel Wenner - Gren, whom American intelligence wrongly believed to be a close friend of Luftwaffe commander Hermann Göring. The Duke was praised, however, for his efforts to combat poverty on the islands, although he was as contemptuous of the Bahamians as he was of most non-white peoples of the Empire. He was also praised for his resolution of civil unrest over low wages in Nassau in June 1942, when there was a `` full - scale riot, '' even though he blamed the trouble on `` mischief makers -- communists '' and `` men of Central European Jewish descent, who had secured jobs as a pretext for obtaining a deferment of draft ''. The Duke resigned the post on 16 March 1945. During World War II, the Allies centred their flight training and antisubmarine operations for the Caribbean in the Bahamas. Canadian Garrison In April 1942 the United Kingdom asked Canada to provide military support in Nassau, in part to provide protection services to H.R.H. the Duke of Windsor. No. 33 company of the Veterans Guard of Canada was raised and arrived in June. No 33 company were relieved in 1943 by a company of The Pictou Highlanders. The Canadian garrison left Nassau in 1946 Postwar period The wartime airfield became Nassau 's international airport in 1957 and helped spur the growth of mass tourism, which accelerated after Havana was closed to American tourists in 1961. Freeport, on the island of Grand Bahama, was established as a free trade zone in the 1950s and became the Bahama 's second city. Bank secrecy combined with the lack of corporate and income taxes led to a rapid growth in the offshore financial sector during the postwar years. The fourth James Bond film, Thunderball, was partly filmed in 1965 in Nassau. By the early 1980s, the islands had become a major center for the drug trade, with 90 % of all the cocaine entering the United States reportedly passing through the Bahamas. Diplomatic relations were established with Cuba in 1974. A decade later, as increased Cuban immigration to the islands strained the Bahamas ' resources, Cuba refused to sign a letter of repatriation. In September 2004, Hurricane Frances swept through the Bahamas, leaving widespread damage in its wake. Just three weeks later, Hurricane Jeanne uprooted trees, blew out windows, and sent seawater flooding through neighborhoods on the islands of Abaco and Grand Bahama. Receding floodwaters left boats tossed on roads and homes battered. The College of the Bahamas was founded in 1974 and provided the nation 's higher or tertiary education. The College was chartered in 2016 as the University of the Bahamas, offering baccalaureate, masters and associate degrees, on three campuses and teaching and research centres throughout the Bahamas. Based on the twin pillars of tourism and offshore finance, the Bahamian economy has prospered since the 1950s. However, there remain significant challenges in areas such as education, health care, housing, international narcotics trafficking and illegal immigration from Haiti. Political developments Modern political development began after World War II. The first political parties were formed in the 1950s. The Progressive Liberal Party was formed in 1953, and the United Bahamian Party was formed in 1956. Bahamians achieved self - government in 1964, with Sir Roland Symonette, of the United Bahamian Party, as the first Premier. The Bahamas achieved full independence as a Commonwealth realm within the Commonwealth of Nations on 10 July 1973. Sir Lynden O. Pindling, leader of the Progressive Liberal Party, became the first black Premier of the colony in 1967, and in 1968 the title was changed to Prime Minister. Sir Milo Butler was appointed the first Governor - General of the Bahamas ( the official representative of Queen Elizabeth II ) shortly after independence. Pindling was prime minister until 1992, during which the Bahamas benefited from tourism and foreign investment. He was succeeded by Hubert Ingraham, leader of the Free National Movement, who was prime minister until 2002. See also British colonization of the Americas History of the Americas History of the British West Indies History of North America History of the Caribbean List of Prime Ministers of the Bahamas Politics of the Bahamas Spanish colonization of the Americas Notes Jump up ^ Craton : 17 Granberry and Vescelius : 80 - 86 Keegan : 48 - 62 Jump up ^ Keegan : 25, 54 - 8, 86, 170 - 3 Jump up ^ Albury : 21 - 33 Craton : 28 - 37 Keegan : 175 - 205 Jump up ^ Albury : 34 - 7 Jump up ^ Albury : 34 - 7 Craton. pp. 37 - 39 Johnson :3 Keegan : 212, 220 - 3 Jump up ^ Albury : 41 - 6 Johnson : 3 - 4 Jump up ^ Albury : 47 - 51 Johnson : 4 Jump up ^ Johnson : 4 - 5 Jump up ^ Albury : 51 - 5 Craton : 70 - 87 Johnson : 6 Woodard : 12 - 14, 23 - 24 ^ Jump up to : Albury : 58 - 68 Craton : 89 - 90 Woodard : 89 - 90, 140, 160 Jump up ^ Albury : 69 - 74 Craton : 93 - 6 Johnson : 7 - 8 Woodard : 117 - 121, 163 - 168 Jump up ^ Woodard : 226 - 29 Jump up ^ Woodard : 236 - 40, 245 - 47, 259 - 61 Jump up ^ Woodard : 247 - 48, 262 - 67 Jump up ^ Woodard : 268 - 72, 286, 301 - 04 Jump up ^ Woodard : 304 - 10, 315 - 20 Jump up ^ Woodard : 311 - 14, 325 - 28 ^ Jump up to : `` Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park '', Network to Freedom, National Park Service, 2010, accessed 10 April 2013. Jump up ^ Gerald Horne, Negro Comrades of the Crown : African Americans and the British Empire Fight the U.S. Before Emancipation, New York University ( NYU ) Press, 2012, pp. 107 - 108 Jump up ^ Smith, Andrew. 2009. `` Thomas Bassett Macaulay and the Bahamas : Racism, Business and Canadian Sub-imperialism ''. The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History. 37, no. 1 : 29 - 50. Jump up ^ `` The Origins of Bahamian Aviation - Bahama Pundit ''. bahamapundit.com. Retrieved 7 December 2014. Jump up ^ Owen, J. ( 2008 ). A Serpent in Eden : ' The greatest murder mystery of all time '. Little, Brown Book Group. ISBN 9780748109739. Retrieved 7 December 2014. Jump up ^ Higham, Charles ( 1988 ). The Dutchess of Windsor : The Secret Life. McGraw Hill. pp. 300 -- 302. Jump up ^ Bloch, Michael ( 1982 ). The Duke of Windsor 's War. London : Weidenfeld and Nicolson. ISBN 0 - 297 - 77947 - 8, p. 364. ^ Jump up to : Higham, Charles ( 1988 ). The Dutchess of Windsor : The Secret Life. McGraw Hill. pp. 307 -- 309. Jump up ^ Bloch, Michael ( 1982 ). The Duke of Windsor 's War. London : Weidenfeld and Nicolson. ISBN 0 - 297 - 77947 - 8, pp. 154 -- 159, 230 -- 233 Jump up ^ Ziegler, Philip ( 1991 ). King Edward VIII : The official biography. New York : Alfred A. Knopf. ISBN 0 - 394 - 57730 - 2. Jump up ^ Higham, Charles ( 1988 ). The Dutchess of Windsor : The Secret Life. McGraw Hill. pp. 331 -- 332. Jump up ^ Ziegler, pp. 471 -- 472 Jump up ^ Matthew, H.C.G. ( September 2004 ; online edition January 2008 ) `` Edward VIII, later Prince Edward, duke of Windsor ( 1894 -- 1972 ) '', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, doi : 10.1093 / ref : odnb / 31061, retrieved 1 May 2010 ( Subscription required ) Jump up ^ Higham places the date of his resignation as 15 March, and that he left on 5 April. Higham, Charles ( 1988 ). The Dutchess of Windsor : The Secret Life. McGraw Hill. p. 359. Jump up ^ STACEY, C.P. ( 1955 ). `` Official History of the Canadian Army in the Second World War - Volume I - Six Years of War '' ( PDF ). National Defence and the Canadian Forces. Government of Canada. Retrieved July 31, 2016. p. 181 References Albury, Paul. ( 1975 ) The Story of the Bahamas. MacMillan Caribbean. ISBN 0 - 333 - 17131 - 4 Carr, J. Revell. ( 2008 ) Seeds of Discontent : The Deep Roots of the American Revolution 1659 -- 1750. Walker & Company. ISBN 978 - 0 - 8027 - 1512 - 8 Craton, Michael. ( 1986 ) A History of the Bahamas. San Salvador Press. ISBN 0 - 9692568 - 0 - 9 Granberry, Julius and Gary S. Vescelius. ( 2004 ) Languages of the Pre-Columbian Antilles. The University of Alabama Press. ISBN 0 - 8173 - 5123 - X Johnson, Howard. ( 1996 ) The Bahamas from Slavery to Servitude, 1783 -- 1933. University Press of Florida. ISBN 0 - 8130 - 1858 - 7 Keegan, William F. ( 1992 ) The People Who Discovered Columbus : The Prehistory of the Bahamas. University Press of Florida. ISBN 0 - 8130 - 1137 - X Woodard, Colin. ( 2007 ) The Republic of Pirates. Harcourt, Inc. ISBN 978 - 0 - 15 - 603462 - 3 State Dept Country Study - Includes information on the Bahamas including history. Rulers.org -- Bahamas List of rulers for Bahamas Further reading Jedidiah Morse ( 1797 ), `` Bahama Islands '', The American Gazetteer, Boston, Massachusetts : At the presses of S. Hall, and Thomas & Andrews External links The Bahamas History & Culture The Bahamas Historical Society Bahamian Loyalists history The Bahamas articles History Battle of Nassau Colonial heads Eleutheran Adventurers American Civil War Raid on Charles Town Raid on Nassau Battle of Nassau ( 1720 ) Capture of the Bahamas ( 1782 ) Capture of the Bahamas ( 1783 ) Geography Cities Nassau Freeport Islands New Providence Grand Bahama Rivers Wildlife birds mammals Politics Defence Force Elections Foreign relations Governor - General Law Judiciary Supreme Court Chief Justice Enforcement Capital punishment Local government Monarchy Parliament Political parties Prime Minister Security and intelligence Economy Agriculture Communications Dollar ( currency ) Stock exchange Transport Society Demographics Ethnic groups Education Languages Religion LGBT rights in the Bahamas Culture Coat of Arms Creole Flag Films Music Television Anthem National Song Pledge Outline Index Bibliography Book Portal British Empire Legend Current territory Former territory * Now a Commonwealth realm Now a member of the Commonwealth of Nations Historical flags of the British Empire Europe 1542 -- 1800 Ireland ( integrated into UK ) 1708 -- 1757, 1763 -- 1782 and 1798 -- 1802 Minorca Since 1713 Gibraltar 1800 -- 1813 Malta ( Protectorate ) 1813 -- 1964 Malta ( Colony ) 1807 -- 1890 Heligoland 1809 -- 1864 Ionian Islands 1878 -- 1960 Cyprus 1921 -- 1937 Irish Free State North America 17th century and before 18th century 19th and 20th century 1579 New Albion 1583 -- 1907 Newfoundland 1605 -- 1979 * Saint Lucia 1607 -- 1776 Virginia Since 1619 Bermuda 1620 -- 1691 Plymouth 1623 -- 1883 Saint Kitts 1624 -- 1966 * Barbados 1625 -- 1650 Saint Croix 1627 -- 1979 * Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 1628 -- 1883 Nevis 1629 -- 1691 Massachusetts Bay 1632 -- 1776 Maryland since 1632 Montserrat 1632 -- 1860 Antigua 1635 -- 1644 Saybrook 1636 -- 1776 Connecticut 1636 -- 1776 Rhode Island 1637 -- 1662 New Haven 1643 -- 1860 Bay Islands Since 1650 Anguilla 1655 -- 1850 Mosquito Coast 1655 -- 1962 * Jamaica 1663 -- 1712 Carolina 1664 -- 1776 New York 1665 -- 1674 and 1702 -- 1776 New Jersey Since 1666 Virgin Islands Since 1670 Cayman Islands 1670 -- 1973 * Bahamas 1670 -- 1870 Rupert 's Land 1671 -- 1816 Leeward Islands 1674 -- 1702 East Jersey 1674 -- 1702 West Jersey 1680 -- 1776 New Hampshire 1681 -- 1776 Pennsylvania 1686 -- 1689 New England 1691 -- 1776 Massachusetts Bay 1701 -- 1776 Delaware 1712 -- 1776 North Carolina 1712 -- 1776 South Carolina 1713 -- 1867 Nova Scotia 1733 -- 1776 Georgia 1754 -- 1820 Cape Breton Island 1762 -- 1974 * Grenada 1763 -- 1978 Dominica 1763 -- 1873 Prince Edward Island 1763 -- 1791 Quebec 1763 -- 1783 East Florida 1763 -- 1783 West Florida 1784 -- 1867 New Brunswick 1791 -- 1841 Lower Canada 1791 -- 1841 Upper Canada Since 1799 Turks and Caicos Islands 1818 -- 1846 Columbia District / Oregon Country 1833 -- 1960 Windward Islands 1833 -- 1960 Leeward Islands 1841 -- 1867 Canada 1849 -- 1866 Vancouver Island 1853 -- 1863 Queen Charlotte Islands 1858 -- 1866 British Columbia 1859 -- 1870 North - Western Territory 1860 -- 1981 * British Antigua and Barbuda 1862 -- 1863 Stickeen 1866 -- 1871 British Columbia 1867 -- 1931 * Dominion of Canada 1871 -- 1964 Honduras 1882 -- 1983 * Saint Kitts and Nevis 1889 -- 1962 Trinidad and Tobago 1907 -- 1949 Newfoundland 1958 -- 1962 West Indies Federation 1. Occupied jointly with the United States. 2. In 1931, Canada and other British dominions obtained self - government through the Statute of Westminster. See Name of Canada. 3. Gave up self - rule in 1934, but remained a de jure Dominion until it joined Canada in 1949. South America 1631 -- 1641 Providence Island 1651 -- 1667 Willoughbyland 1670 -- 1688 Saint Andrew and Providence Islands 1831 -- 1966 Guiana Since 1833 Falkland Islands Since 1908 South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands 4. Now a department of Colombia. 5. Occupied by Argentina during the Falklands War of April -- June 1982. Africa 17th and 18th centuries 19th century 20th century Since 1658 Saint Helena 1792 -- 1961 Sierra Leone 1795 -- 1803 Cape Colony Since 1815 Ascension Island Since 1816 Tristan da Cunha 1806 -- 1910 Cape of Good Hope 1807 -- 1808 Madeira 1810 -- 1968 Mauritius 1816 -- 1965 The Gambia 1856 -- 1910 Natal 1862 -- 1906 Lagos 1868 -- 1966 Basutoland 1874 -- 1957 Gold Coast 1882 -- 1922 Egypt 1884 -- 1900 Niger Coast 1884 -- 1966 Bechuanaland 1884 -- 1960 Somaliland 1887 -- 1897 Zululand 1890 -- 1962 Uganda 1890 -- 1963 Zanzibar 1891 -- 1964 Nyasaland 1891 -- 1907 Central Africa 1893 -- 1968 Swaziland 1895 -- 1920 East Africa 1899 -- 1956 Sudan 1900 -- 1914 Northern Nigeria 1900 -- 1914 Southern Nigeria 1900 -- 1910 Orange River 1900 -- 1910 Transvaal 1903 -- 1976 Seychelles 1910 -- 1931 South Africa 1914 -- 1960 Nigeria 1915 -- 1931 South - West Africa 1919 -- 1961 Cameroons 1920 -- 1963 Kenya 1922 -- 1961 Tanganyika 1923 -- 1965 and 1979 -- 1980 Southern Rhodesia 1924 -- 1964 Northern Rhodesia 6. League of Nations mandate. 7. Self - governing Southern Rhodesia unilaterally declared independence in 1965 ( as Rhodesia ) and continued as an unrecognised state until the 1979 Lancaster House Agreement. After recognised independence in 1980, Zimbabwe was a member of the Commonwealth until it withdrew in 2003. Asia 17th and 18th century 19th century 20th century 1685 -- 1824 Bencoolen 1702 -- 1705 Pulo Condore 1757 -- 1947 Bengal 1762 -- 1764 Manila and Cavite 1781 -- 1784 and 1795 -- 1819 Padang 1786 -- 1946 Penang 1795 -- 1948 Ceylon 1796 -- 1965 Maldives 1811 -- 1816 Java 1812 -- 1824 Banka and Billiton 1819 -- 1826 Malaya 1824 -- 1948 Burma 1826 -- 1946 Straits Settlements 1839 -- 1967 Aden 1839 -- 1842 Afghanistan 1841 -- 1997 Hong Kong 1841 -- 1946 Sarawak 1848 -- 1946 Labuan 1858 -- 1947 India 1874 -- 1963 Borneo 1879 -- 1919 Afghanistan ( protectorate ) 1882 -- 1963 North Borneo 1885 -- 1946 Unfederated Malay States 1888 -- 1984 Brunei 1891 -- 1971 Muscat and Oman 1892 -- 1971 Trucial States 1895 -- 1946 Federated Malay States 1898 -- 1930 Weihai 1878 -- 1960 Cyprus 1907 -- 1949 Bhutan ( protectorate ) 1918 -- 1961 Kuwait 1920 -- 1932 Mesopotamia 1921 -- 1946 Transjordan 1923 -- 1948 Palestine 1945 -- 1946 South Vietnam 1946 -- 1963 North Borneo 1946 -- 1963 Sarawak 1946 -- 1963 Singapore 1946 -- 1948 Malayan Union 1948 -- 1957 Federation of Malaya Since 1960 Akrotiri and Dhekelia ( before as part of Cyprus ) Since 1965 British Indian Ocean Territory ( before as part of Mauritius and the Seychelles ) League of Nations mandate. Iraq 's mandate was not enacted and replaced by the Anglo - Iraqi Treaty Oceania 18th and 19th centuries 20th century 1788 -- 1901 New South Wales 1803 -- 1901 Van Diemen 's Land / Tasmania 1807 -- 1863 Auckland Islands 1824 -- 1980 New Hebrides 1824 -- 1901 Queensland 1829 -- 1901 Swan River / Western Australia 1836 -- 1901 South Australia since 1838 Pitcairn Islands 1841 -- 1907 New Zealand 1851 -- 1901 Victoria 1874 -- 1970 Fiji 1877 -- 1976 Western Pacific Territories 1884 -- 1949 Papua 1888 -- 1901 Rarotonga / Cook Islands 1889 -- 1948 Union Islands 1892 -- 1979 Gilbert and Ellice Islands 1893 -- 1978 Solomon Islands 1900 -- 1970 Tonga 1900 -- 1974 Niue 1901 -- 1942 * Australia 1907 -- 1947 * New Zealand 1919 -- 1942 and 1945 -- 1968 Nauru 1919 -- 1949 New Guinea 1949 -- 1975 Papua and New Guinea 9. Now part of the * Realm of New Zealand. 10. Suspended member. 11. Now Kiribati and * Tuvalu. 12. Now the * Solomon Islands. 13. Now * Papua New Guinea. Antarctica and South Atlantic Since 1658 Saint Helena Since 1815 Ascension Island Since 1816 Tristan da Cunha Since 1908 British Antarctic Territory 1841 -- 1933 Australian Antarctic Territory ( transferred to the Commonwealth of Australia ) 1841 -- 1947 Ross Dependency ( transferred to the Realm of New Zealand ) 14. Since 2009 part of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha ; Ascension Island ( 1922 -- ) and Tristan da Cunha ( 1938 -- ) were previously dependencies of Saint Helena. 15. Both claimed in 1908 ; territories formed in 1962 ( British Antarctic Territory ) and 1985 ( South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands ). History of North America Sovereign states Antigua and Barbuda Bahamas Barbados Belize Canada Costa Rica Cuba Dominica Dominican Republic El Salvador Grenada Guatemala Haiti Honduras Jamaica Mexico Nicaragua Panama Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Trinidad and Tobago United States Dependencies and other territories Anguilla Aruba Bermuda Bonaire British Virgin Islands Cayman Islands Curaçao Greenland Guadeloupe Martinique Montserrat Navassa Island Puerto Rico Saint Barthélemy Saint Martin Saint Pierre and Miquelon Saba Sint Eustatius Sint Maarten Turks and Caicos Islands United States Virgin Islands Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=History_of_the_Bahamas&oldid=834400338 '' Categories : History of the Bahamas History of the Caribbean British colonization of the Americas Talk Contents About Wikipedia Languages Català Deutsch Español Français Ido Italiano ქართული Português Русский Shqip 中文 5 more Edit links This page was last edited on 5 April 2018, at 14 : 46. 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Question: who discovered some islands in the bahamas in 1492
Answer: Christopher Columbus