Bahamas History
Date it came into existence: 300-400 AD
People of Importance:
Major Events:
-The start of the Bahamas
-Age of Piracy
-Bahamas and Prohibition
People of Importance:
- Woodes Roger was a English captain, former privateer, and late the royal governor of the Bahamas. When Roger was a young man he was sought to help a privateers defeat the Spanish while Britain was at war with them. Roger and his team captured many ships around the Pacific Ocean. Rogers became a national hero in England. His history with privateering made him the perfect person to get rid of the pirate problem in the Bahamas. So, in 1718 he became the royal governor of Bahmas, and greatly reduced the pirate problem in that area. Woodes passed away during his second term as governor.
- Lynden Pindling is regarded as the father of the Bahamas nation. He was the leader of the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP). A group that is now the main political party of the Bahamas, and fought for the rights of African Americans. When the under the control of the PLP and Pindling the Bahamas was able to declare independence from England on July 10th 1973. Pindling was the Bahamas first black Prime Minister from 1969 to 1992. He was the leader of PLP until 1997. Pindling made waves for African Americans in the Bahamas, and changed the political structure of the country.
- Perry Christie is the current Prime Minister of the Bahamas. He has been in office since May 2012. He previously had been Prime Minister from 2002-2007. Christie is a member of the Progressive Liberal Party. After losing in 2007. He was reelected in 2012 as prime minister. Christie made some great changes to the Bahamas. He brought many programs into the Bahamas. Such as: National Health Insurance, Urban Renewal, Mortgage Relief Program, and constitutional reforms.
Major Events:
-The start of the Bahamas
- 1492: Christopher Columbus discovers the Caribbean Islands, and the Bahamas. When arriving at the island he described it as the shallow sea. Columbus targeted the Lucayans natives since they were very small group, and very weak. Within 25 years the whole Lucayans were whipped by the hand of Christopher Columbus. The Lucayans had supposedly been there since the 300-400 AD. They came from what is now know as Cuba. This is how the Bahamas became discovered.
-Age of Piracy
- From late 1600s to 1700s the Bahamas was know as "pirate paradise". The narrow water around the land made it very accessible. Pirates and Privateers would come in and out of each time. For almost 40 years my Blackbeard and many other famous pirates had ran that area. He was one of the most famous pirates of his time. Nassau had been destroyed once during the Age of Piracy. However, it was rebuilt two years later. In 1718, the king of England appointed Woodes Roger as the royal governor of the Bahamas. Roger managed to capture 300 pirates in his time as governor.
-Bahamas and Prohibition
- During the prohibition in era in America the Bahamas faced great change in their economy. After the Civil War the Bahamas went through a poor economic period. They were not selling as much textile as they once had to the Union once the war was done with. It wasn`t until the 1919 when the 14 amendment banning alcohol in America was passed that smuggler would soon see Bahamas riches in alcohol. Along with producing it`s own alcohol it sold Scottish whiskey that was shipped in from Scotland. The Bahamas were met with overwhelming amount of wealth during this time. Once the Prohibition era was ended the island was economically devastated, but it would eventually lead them to focusing their economy on tourism.