History of the Bahamas

History of the Bahamas

Key Dates

• 12 October 1492: Christopher Columbus lands on the island of San Salvador. This place and date are what history remembers as the "Discovery of America" by the navigator. The archipelago was then home to around 40,000 Lucayan Indians.

• 1648: A group of English Puritans from Bermuda, fleeing religious persecution, settles on the island of Eleuthera. In addition to various material problems and rivalries, the community also had to face incursions by the Spanish, who had their sights set on the archipelago.

• Late 17th - early 18th century: Several islands serve as a haven for privateers and pirates. Gradually, the city of Nassau, founded by the English, becomes their refuge to the point that they take possession of it for forty years before the English restore order.

• 1763: The Bahamas are officially recognised as a British possession by the Treaty of Paris.

• Late 18th century: The northernmost islands, including New Providence, face attacks by the Spanish, as well as by Americans during the War of Independence (1775-83).

• 1783: Eight thousand American loyalists refusing the independence of the United States settle in the Bahamas and develop the territory. End of Spanish or other raids on the archipelago.

• 1861-1865: During the American Civil War, the Bahamas become a supply and trade base for the Confederate government. Nassau then becomes a prosperous port.

• 1865: The end of the American Civil War with the defeat of the Confederates leads to a new influx of migrants from the Southern states.

• 1919: The U.S. government passes the Prohibition Act, immediately allowing the Bahamas to become a hotspot for alcohol smuggling controlled by the Mafia. New prosperity for the Bahamas until 1933, which marks the end of Prohibition.

• 1960s: Fidel Castro comes to power in Cuba in 1961. Cuban casinos and beach resorts become off-limits to American tourists, who then turn to the Bahamas, which had begun developing this lucrative sector.

• 1973: After semi-independence in 1964 and integration into the Commonwealth in 1969, the Bahamas become independent on 10 July 1973.

• 1980s-90s: The country experiences a certain economic boom based notably on tourism and offshore finance.

• 2019: Part of the archipelago is devastated by Hurricane Dorian.