Bahamas - 17th Century
The Spaniards returned to the islands only for slaves and victims for their various lusts (of which they possessed a full allotment), and the first actual settlements were made by English adventurers.
It is commonly stated that in 1629 the British formed a settlement in New Providence, which they held till 1641, when the Spaniards expelled them. The Bahamas were claimed by Britain and granted to Sir Robert Heath.This, however, refers to the Providence Island off the Mosquito Coast; it was only in 1646 that Eleuthera was colonized, and in 1666 New Providence, by settlers from the Bermudas.
Several British attempts at settlement met varying degrees of failure due to the boom and bust nature of the local economy and constant bouts of “reciprocal violence” with Spanish and French colonists in the region.
The first permanent settlement was not established until 1649, when Puritans from the English colony of Bermuda founded Eleuthera, which in Greek means "place of freedom." The colonists, known as Eleutheran Adventurers, set out to establish a colony where they could practice their religion freely, as in the colonies settled by the Pilgrims in New England. While the short-lived settlement in Eluethra (1647 to 1684) was religious in nature, most settlers came to the Bahamas for economic reasons.
With the growth of the Spanish Empire, the channel between Florida and the Bahamas had become part of a major sailing route, and a profitable industry based on piracy and salvaging wrecked Spanish ships grew in the Bahamas and the Florida Keys. In 1666 English settlers established a colony on New Providence and founded Charlestown, which was renamed Nassau near the end of the seventeenth century.
Seamen from Bermuda settled in New Providence in the 1660s, where they engaged in privateering, piracy, and wrecking. These men were experts at gathering conchs, and catching fish and turtles and sustained themselves on these marine resources.
In 1670 Charles II. made a grant of the islands to Christopher, duke of Albemarle, and others. Governors were appointed by the lords proprietors, and there are copious records in the state papers of the attempts made to develop the resources of the islands. But the buccaneers or pirates who had made their retreat here offered heavy opposition; in 1680 there was an attack by the Spaniards. The Spaniards bitterly resented this invasion of their territory. They made a descent upon New Providence and conveyed a gentle hint to the settlers that they were not wanted in that part of the world, by roasting their governor over an open fire, and destroying all the property they could not carry away.
Wrecking was a respectable means of making a living and privateering was considered patriotic activity during wartimes, but piracy during peacetime was neither respectable nor patriotic. By the 1690s, London had become a major trade hub and the disruption of trade by piracy was detrimental to British reputation in foreign markets. Therefore, new imperial policies included the eradication and suppression of piracy throughout the British Empire.
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