Page 49 - The British Big Four
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ut pirates weren’t the only ones having by Andrew Deveaux. After American inde- sponges, until the sponges were wiped out
B their way with passing ships. The peo- pendence, the British resettled some 7,300 by a fungus. The people then turned to fish-
ple of Abacos survived for years by pillag- Loyalists and their slaves in the Bahamas, ing and simple farming, which is still how
ing ships that were unfortunate enough to
wreck off the shores of the islands. In fact, to help compensate them for losses. The re- they earn their living today.
the waters off these islands are said to be
the final resting place for nearly 500 Spanish settled American Loyalists started a cotton
galleons. Unfortunately, the wrecks weren’t Rindustry. By the beginning of the 19th cen-
always caused by storms; the islanders often ecords from West End, the oldest city
helped guide passing ships to their doom by tury more than 40 plantations were thriving, on Grand Bahama Island, show that the
swinging lanterns at night off the treacher-
ous reefs and sandbars. employing over 1200 slaves. The Loyalists population in 1836 was only about 370,
D uring the American War of Independ- became a political force in the capital. Eu- many of whom abandoned the island for
ence, the islands were a target for
American naval forces under the command ropean Americans were outnumbered by greater opportunities in Nassau. But in 1861
of Commodore Ezekial Hopkins. US Marines
occupied the capital of Nassau for a fort- the African-American slaves they brought people flocked back to Grand Bahama be-
night. In 1782, following the British defeat at
Yorktown, a Spanish fleet appeared off the with them, and ethnic Europeans remained cause of an unexpected economic opportu-
coast of Nassau, and the city surrendered
without a fight. Spain returned possession a minority in the territory. In 1783–84 the nity—the American Civil War.
of the Bahamas to Britain the following year,
under the terms of the Treaty of Paris. Before population was 4,058; by 1789, it was more
the news was received however the islands Athan 11,000, with the white settlers forming
were recaptured by a small British force led t the outbreak of the war, with the Con-
a significant minority. federacy of Southern States under a
T hey started cotton plantations on Crook- strict Union embargo, smugglers operating
ed Island, the Bahama Lumber Company out of West End were able to command hefty
prices from the South for goods such as cot-
on Andros Island, a large salt mine on Great ton, sugar, and weapons. As soon as the war
Inagua Island, and provided stevedores for ended, the economic boom ended as well,
all over the world. The abolition of slavery in but it established strong ties between the
1834 caused major economic changes as the Bahamas and the United States that still ex-
islands had been used as a center of slave- ist.
trading. When cotton growing became une-
conomical, the islanders turned to diving for
