Bahamas Paradise or Just Another Beach

In 1492, on San Salvador island in the eastern part of the Bahamas, Christopher Columbus hit land. Upon seeing his surroundings, it is believed that Columbus uttered the words "baja mar", which means shallow water or sea. This island, surrounded by shallow water basically took as it's name, the words that Columbus uttered, but more commonly spoken as the Bahamas.The Bahamas caught the attention of traders, settlers, etc. because of its proximity to Florida and because of the shipping channels.

It is believed that people lived in the Bahamas as early as 300 to 400 A D. and it is suspected these early settlers were Cuban and lived off the ocean food.As the 10th century came, so did the Lucayan Indians and they settled in the Bahamas to get away from their enemies, the Carib Indians, who were known to be cannibals and warriors.

There were estimated to be about 40,000 Lucayans living in the Bahamas in 1492 when Columbus arrived, but Columbus arriving was a bad omen because within 3 years of arriving, Columbus enslaved the Lucayans and shipped them to Hispaniola to work in his mines. Due to disease, slavery and other hardships the Lucayan tribe was completely wiped out within 25 years of the arrival of Columbus.The hay day for pirates and privateers was between the late 1600s and early 1700s. The landscape of the Bahamas made a perfect hiding place for pirates to lay in wait for unsuspecting and unprepared ships to try to pass through.There have been a few famous pirates that at one time made the Bahamas home. Blackbeard once lived in Nassau and fellow pirates thought so much of Blackbeard (or maybe it was fear), that they elected him magistrate of their privateer republic.

Blackbeard ruled with his own style of justice until 1718 when Royal Governor Woodes Roger arrived and kicked all the pirates off Nassau.Another famous pirate that spent time in the Bahamas is Calico Jack. Calico is less known for his pirating skills and more renowned for having two women as part of his crew.

Calico was such a non-fighter that in 1720 when the Royal Governor ordered an attack on his ship, he and his crewmen hid below; while his two women pirates tried to fight off the attackers. Of course, this wasn't a fight that two women could win.More than a century later saw the arrival of new settlers to the Bahamas. These were colonists that were still loyal to the British flag.

They left the new America for the Bahamas but they brought their slaves with them. In 1783;with the purpose of gaining independence, these ex-American colonists, with the help of the South Carolina Militia, forced the retreat of Spanish forces from the entire region.The Bahamas economy was closely tied into the civil war. Britain needed cotton from the south to keep its textile industry running, but because of union blockades, no ships were allowed to reach port. Thus, blockade-runners were born. These runners, in fast boats, would travel from Charleston to Nassau with loads of cotton.

Once in Nassau the runners would trade their cotton for goods that the British ships carried. After returning to Charleston the runners would sell their goods for profit. The end of the civil war put a serious dent in the Bahamas' economy; until 1919 when prohibition came into play. Whisky was a great British import for the Bahamas, so much so that the government expanded Prince George's Wharf in Nassau to make room for the shipments. Unfortunately, this boom was short-lived because in 1934 prohibition ended and so did the profits that flowed through the Bahamas because of it.The mid-19th century saw the beginning of the tourist industry.

With the help of the government, there was more construction and subsidized services to attract more tourists but the biggest help to the Bahamas tourist industry came in 1961 when Cuba was closed to American tourists. With Cuba gone, the Bahamas became a major island destination for Americans. The Bahamas was granted limited self-government in 1964 by Great Britain and 1969 it became part of the Commonwealth. On July 10,1973 the Bahamas legally became a nation.

By: Michael Russell