Page 50 - The British Big Four

he Bahamians were expert blockade- 1919. Commerce once more boomed as the nation under the Commonwealth of Nations.
result of ships acting as rumrunners. Gun The economy of the Bahamas has continued
T runners, but this economic boost end- Cay, Cat Cay, Bimini and West End were all to flourish since the 1950s, adding motiva-
within 60 miles of Florida. Warehouses, dis- tion to their desire to be an independent
ed in 1865 with the end of the war. A killer tilleries, bars, and supply stores sprang up nation. History on the Bahamas reflects that
hurricane struck the entire chain of islands all over West End, and the town’s smugglers the Bahamas chose of their own accord to
further deteriorating the economy the next developed a foolproof operation. They’d sail remain part of the Commonwealth of Na-
year. Effective lighthouses and modern off at night, dragging huge cylinders of liq- tions.
steamships began to replace the older sail- uor tied to ropes behind them. If the Ameri-
ing vessels, resulting in fewer shipwrecks. can Coast Guard spotted them, the smug- M odern political development began
This brought on a decline in the wrecking glers simply cut the ropes and waited for after the Second World War. The first
industry. Sponging and pineapples began the patrol boats to leave. Then they recov- political parties were formed in the 1950s.
replacing wrecking as a business, as they ered the cylinders and continued on their The British Parliament authorized the islands
did in the Keys also. The population of the journey. Eventually prohibition ended, the as internally self-governing in 1964, with Sir
Bahamas rose from 39,000 in 1870 to 53,000 economy did another nosedive, and people Roland Symonette, of the United Bahamian
in 1900. started fishing again. During World War II, Party, as the first Premier. Lynden Pindling
the Allies centered their flight training and (Sir Lynden from 1983), of the Progressive
T he Flagler railway extended to Key West antisubmarine operations for the Caribbean Liberal Party, became the first black Premier
in 1912 and brought in cheap Cuban in The Bahamas. of the colony; in 1968 the title of the posi-
pineapples. This doomed not only the Baha- tion was changed to Prime Minister. In 1973,
ma pineapple market, but also that of Plant- T he government and culture of the Ba- the Bahamas became fully independent as
er and Plantation Key. One in five Bahamians hamas stayed basically the same until a Commonwealth realm, retaining member-
departed for the U.S. The Bahamas fared 1964, when the British government grant- ship in the Commonwealth of Nations.
well in World War I with its shipping exper- ed the islands internal self-government. In
tise. A second smuggling boom came a few 1973 the Bahamas became and independent
decades later when the 18th Amendment
prohibited alcohol in the United States. in