| Welcome To The Bahamas! | | | | of religious freedom. Settlements and trade routes |
| Warm sun, rum drinks, and your toes in the sand are | | | | with Massachusetts were established and eventually |
| some of the best images that immediately come to | | | | Harbour Island was settled to protect the towns |
| mind when you hear the word 'Bahamas'. Besides | | | | from Spanish raiders. Of course by the 1700's, the |
| them being an island paradise in the Caribbean, this | | | | archipelago chain had other, nastier raiders to deal |
| popular vacation destination forms an archipelago that | | | | with. They went by the names of Blackbeard, Calico |
| stretches 100,000 square miles and includes seven | | | | Jack, Sir Henry Morgan, and Anne Bonney. As a point |
| hundred islands. The world's largest barrier reef can | | | | of trivia interest, Henry Morgan became the governor |
| be found in the waters surrounding the Bahamas and | | | | of Port Royal, Jamaica, the city featured so |
| the most popular destination sites for swimming | | | | prominently in the 'Pirates of the Caribbean' trilogy. |
| snorkelling and general fun in the sun may be one of | | | | By the 1860's, the Bahamas became a stopping point |
| the many uninhabited islands or cays. | | | | for British merchants looking to obtain cotton |
| The fourteen most notable islands in the chain are | | | | produced in the southern states of America. Because |
| the central hubs for all the rest. They include Nassau, | | | | of the Civil War, they were blockaded from the |
| Grand Bahama Island, and the twelve 'Out Islands' | | | | coast. Bahamian blockade runners intervened, running |
| that include Cat Island with its highest point in the | | | | from the islands to Charleston and back again with |
| chain, and San Salvador, the island Christopher | | | | cotton loads. The Bahamas prospered until 1919 when |
| Columbus first set foot on 1492. The name of the | | | | the United States prohibited alcohol. Smuggling, like in |
| island chain came from 'baja mar', which means | | | | the days of the pirates, became popular once again. |
| 'shallow water or sea'. The proximity to Florida and | | | | The islands economy collapsed, though, when |
| the many shipping lanes that were discovered after | | | | prohibition was lifted and the sponge harvesting off |
| Columbus landed there opened the chain up to | | | | the reef collapsed. |
| settlers, traders, and invaders. It was also home to | | | | By this point, the islands shifted gears and began to |
| some very famous pirates over the centuries. | | | | promote tourism to the islands. After all, there were |
| Based on archaeological digs across the islands, the | | | | hotels and steam service to the country. It quickly |
| Bahamian natives were there as early as 300 to 400 | | | | became an economic boon for the islands even |
| AD and most likely came from Cuba. The Lucayan | | | | though they suffered through two World Wars. |
| Indians settled the area about six hundred years later | | | | When Cuba was closed to American tourists in 1961, |
| after fleeing their enemies in Lesser Antilles. They | | | | the Bahamas' tourism catapulted. They made |
| were summarily enslaved by Columbus centuries later | | | | accommodations available for cruise ships and |
| and the entire tribe was wiped out by disease and | | | | connected Nassau and Paradise Island by a bridge. In |
| famine twenty-five years later. | | | | 1969, Great Britain released one of her last colonies, |
| The Bahamas were once again settled by strangers | | | | and the archipelago became officially known as the |
| when English Puritans landed there in 1648 in search | | | | Commonwealth of the Bahamas on July 10, 1973. |