One of the most popular places to take a vacation is the Bahamas.
With its tropical weather, beautiful oceans, and friendly locals, it’s an ideal place for families and couples.
Taking a trip to the Bahamas is quite the feat, however, as you need to travel across the ocean either via ship or plane.
While you’re taking your trip, you may wonder if you’re still technically in the United States.
Here’s what you need to know about whether the Bahamas are part of the US or not.
Are The Bahamas Part Of The US?
No, the Bahamas is not part of the United States.
It’s common to confuse the Bahamas for a territory of the United States as the US does have some of the islands around them as part of its territories.
The Bahamas is also part of the Americas, which only makes the matter seem more complicated.
However, the Bahamas have never been part of the United States.
In fact, they originally belonged to the Lucayan people.
The Lucayan people had settlements and populations throughout the Lucayan archipelago, of which the Bahamas are a part.
The Bahamas would later fall into Spanish hands after its “discovery” from Christopher Columbus.
After the Treaty of Paris, Spain gave the island to the United Kingdom.
The islands were a part of the British Empire until 1973.
As such, while the Bahamas were a part of another country, it was the United Kingdom and not the United States.
When Did The Lucayan People Live In The Bahamas?
Long before Columbus came to the islands and declared them for Spain, there were already several populations living on the islands that would become known as the Bahamas.
They were the Lucayan people.
Originally, they lived in the country which is now called Cuba.
Like many other island people, they relied on the ocean for food and resources.
They’d travel from island to island looking for more resources and new land to settle.
They eventually traveled from Cuba to the Bahamas as early as 300 and 400 AD.
They used the ocean for food and started to make settlements.
Between the years 900 AD and 1500 AD, the Lucayan people had developed strong societies that were rich with culture, religion, and political systems.
It was the Lucayan people who discovered the Bahamas and made it their own.
When Did Columbus Arrive In The Bahamas?
During the Age of Exploration, Christopher Columbus had the task of mapping out the western part of the world.
Many believed that he might simply end up back on the eastern side of the world since few people thought there was any land that far west.
Those who believed the world was flat thought he might just sail off the edge of the world.
Instead, Columbus “discovered” many different lands.
One of those lands was the island of the Bahamas.
He arrived in 1492 on the island which would become San Salvador.
He described the islands as “baja mar” which meant shallow sea.
The name Bahamas came from the word.
At the time of his arrival, there were 400,000 Lucayans on the island.
They were a peaceful population and met Columbus’s explorers with curiosity and openness.
Unfortunately, their peaceful nature would be their undoing.
It made them prime targets for enslavement.
Twenty-five years after Columbus’s arrival, almost the entire Lucayan population was either sold into slavery, killed, or died from disease.
What was the First English Settlement in the Bahamas?
Although Columbus and the Spanish slavers and conquistadors that followed arrived in 1492, the first English settlement wouldn’t occur until much later.
In 1649, the ocean brought a group of English settlers called puritans.
This particular group of puritans were the Eleutheran Adventurers.
They came to the Bahamas looking to be able to practice their religion freely.
Back in England, they were unable to practice their faith in the manner that they wished.
They sailed to the Bahamas and quickly found that it was difficult to settle there.
The farming methods that they knew didn’t quite work in the tropical environment.
Nor was the soil anything they knew.
The settlement started to starve and asked for help from the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
Captain William Sayle was in charge of the rescue operation.
The colony gave him supplies, and he returned to the Bahamas which saved them.
They were grateful for the supplies, so they sent brasileto wood as thanks back to the colony.
The wood would allow the company the funds to purchase land for what would one day become Harvard University.
Were The Bahamas Part Of The Age Of Piracy?
The Bahamas played an integral role in the Age of Piracy.
Between the 1600s and 1700s, pirates were extremely active on the Atlantic Ocean.
Trade had opened up between the American colonies and European nations.
The Bahamas were an ideal place for merchant ships to dock and rest or resupply after their journey across the ocean.
That also made them prime targets for pirates.
The shallow waters were also ideal for pirates.
It allowed them to hide from navy ships or bury their treasure to find later when it was safe.
Some even built pirate havens on the islands as a place of refuge.
Some of the most famous pirates to make the Bahamas their home or at least part of their operations was Blackbeard and Calico Jack.
Anne Bonny and Mary Read were two other famous pirates who used the Bahamas for their benefit.
They disguised themselves as men when pirating.
It’s even believed that, to this day, there are hidden treasures on the islands of the Bahamas.
William Catt, a British pirate, supposedly buried treasure on Cat Island.
No one has discovered it yet.
Captain Sir Henry Morgan is another famous pirate who supposedly buried treasure throughout the Bahamas.
It’s difficult to know how much of it remains undiscovered.
One of the most important pirate havens that the Age of Piracy built was the port of Nassau.
The settlement got its start around 1670 and was in the hands of pirates and other lawless men for several years.
Nassau would end up being destroyed twice.
The Spanish first destroyed it, and then French and Spanish forces destroyed it again later.
Despite that, the settlement endured.
When Did The Pirates Lose Nassau?
Pirates and other lawbreakers controlled Nassau for quite some time.
The settlement got its start in 1670 but it wasn’t until 1718 that the law would finally come bearing down on the port.
In 1718, the King of England sent Woodes Rogers to act as the governor of Nassau.
His purpose was to restore order to the port.
When Rogers arrived, he gave the residents of Nassau a choice.
The pirates could surrender themselves and receive amnesty.
They’d be free of wrongdoing, but they’d have to abide by the laws he enacted to make Nassau a legitimate place of business.
Those who disagreed or refused would find themselves at the end of a rope.
Many of the pirates chose amnesty and settled into a, mostly, legitimate lifestyle afterward.
Those who resisted ended up hanged.
At least 300 pirates did surrender.
Some pirates also chose to escape and leave Nassau behind.
Blackbeard was one of those who chose to escape rather than surrender.
While the Age of Piracy would continue for a little while longer, the loss of Nassau was a huge blow to the pirates.
It marked the beginning of the end of piracy.
When Did American Colonists Come To The Bahamas?
Although Americans have traveled to and from the Bahamas for some time by the 1700s, they hadn’t migrated en masse yet.
That didn’t occur until 1783.
Following the result of the American Revolutionary War, some American colonists still wanted to belong to Great Britain.
They were Loyalists and found themselves estranged in a newly independent country.
Some of the Loyalists returned to England.
Some also turned to the Bahamas as a place to live since Great Britain controlled the Bahamas at this time.
The islands were close to the American colonies, which made the trip ideal.
It also allowed the Loyalists to live their own lives while still paying taxes and enjoying the benefits of British citizenship.
The Loyalists went to Eleuthera, in particular, to help settle there.
The settlement already had a population of English settlers from the puritans who had settled there several years before.
The settlement was also full of Spanish colonists, though.
The Loyalists brought with them their slaves and shipbuilding expertise.
They were also skilled in agriculture and building.
With the help of the Loyalists, the English settlers were able to improve Eleuthera and life became easier and more enjoyable there.
Such was their newfound independence that they were able to remove the Spanish colonists and forces that had made them their homes there as well.
They did so without violence.
Because the Loyalists had chosen to leave America and settle in the Bahamas, Great Britain’s grip on the islands grew tighter and more secure.
How Did The Civil War And Prohibition Affect The Bahamas?
Although the Bahamas aren’t part of the United States, some of the history that took place in the US also affected the Bahamas.
Two of those major historical events were the American Civil War and Prohibition.
During the Civil War, there was a unique opportunity for the Bahamas to earn explosive wealth.
The Southern part of the United States produced cotton along with other agricultural goods.
The British Empire bought most of its cotton from the South.
During the Civil War, one of the first things that the Union army did was place a naval blockade near the southern shipping ports.
This prevented the Confederacy from being able to trade directly with Britain.
Instead, runners took the cotton and made their way to the Bahamas.
The British came to the islands where they did business and left with their desired cotton.
The Bahamas was able to earn a tremendous amount of profit by working as a middleman.
The South lost out on profit but it earned enough to continue the trade until the end of the Civil War.
Once the war ended, there was no longer any need for the blockade.
The Bahamas no longer played the middleman.
At least that was the case until the 1920s when Prohibition started.
When alcohol became illegal to sell, the Bahamas found a unique chance of becoming wealthy once more.
The government expanded the Prince George Wharf in Nassau.
This allowed them to keep the flow of alcohol coming to the United States, albeit at a steep price.
When Prohibition eventually ended, the loss of profit devastated the economy of the Bahamas.
What Was The Hotel And Steam Ship Service Act Of 1898 In The Bahamas?
In 1898, the government signed the Hotel and Steam Ship Service Act.
It gave the government the funds it needed to invest in its tourism sector.
They built new hotels, invested in infrastructure, and bought a fleet of steam ships.
The idea was to make the Bahamas the place for tourists to go.
Tourism was already popular in the Bahamas but it was mostly for those who were already wealthy.
Prohibition, in particular, often sent wealthy Americans to the islands to get alcohol or throw parties for their friends.
The Act aimed to make the Bahamas more accessible to everyone.
Another big factor that influenced tourism in the Bahamas was the closing of Cuba.
When Americans could no longer travel to Cuba, they started traveling to the Bahamas instead.
It provided the same type of tropical weather that they were looking for.
The Bahamas also forged a special relationship with the United States.
Those traveling to the islands only needed a passport to stay and enjoy the island’s delights.
Everyone else needs a passport and visa to visit the islands.
The Hotel and Steam Ship Service Act helped pave the way for the Bahamas’ future as a tourist and vacation destination.
When Did The Bahamas Become Independent?
Although the Bahamas are far from Great Britain, they technically belonged to the country since the Treaty of Paris.
However, on July 10, 1973, the Bahamas became an independent country.
Before then, the British Empire had owned the island country for 325 years.
It was mostly peaceful but it was clear that the Bahamas needed to stand on its own two legs and make the choices it wanted to make for its people.
They became a member of the Commonwealth of Nations.
Every July 10th, they celebrate their Independence Day, not unlike what the United States does on July 4th.
What Is The Commonwealth Of Nations?
The Commonwealth of Nations has gone through a few different names over its history.
Many refer to it simply as the Commonwealth these days.
Before then, it was the British Commonwealth of Nations.
The Commonwealth is a group of sovereign states who maintain ties and usually trade deals with the United Kingdom.
They also acknowledge the British monarch as the head of their association albeit symbolically.
Essentially, the Commonwealth is not unlike the UN or EU, or any other group of nations.
It’s smaller in number and most of the nations involved were once dependencies of Great Britain.
That means Great Britain used to own them before the countries peacefully filed for independence and received it.
In the early history of the Commonwealth, the countries that were part of it were essentially able to run their countries as they wanted.
However, if the British monarch chose to veto one of their laws, then they would overrule the governor or government’s power.
That changed after the 1930s.
At this point, the countries were essentially able to do what they liked.
At most, it means that they have a healthy relationship with Great Britain and they do what they can to keep that relationship healthy.
Several countries are part of the Commonwealth.
Here are the countries that are part of the Commonwealth and the year in which they entered membership.
- United Kingdom: 1931
- Canada: 1931
- Australia: 1931
- New Zealand: 1931
- South Africa: 1931
- India: 1947
- Pakistan: 1947
- Sri Lanka: 1948
- Ghana: 1957
- Malaysia: 1957
- Nigeria: 1960
- Cyprus: 1961
- Sierra Leone: 1961
- Tanzania: 1961
- Jamaica: 1962
- Trinidad and Tobago: 1962
- Uganda: 1962
- Kenya: 1963
- Malawi: 1964
- Malta: 1964
- Zambia: 1964
- The Gambia: 1965
- Singapore: 1965
- Guyana: 1966
- Botswana: 1966
- Lesotho: 1966
- Barbados: 1966
- Mauritius: 1968
- Nauru: 1968
- Swaziland: 1968
- Tonga: 1970
- Samoa: 1970
- Fiji: 1971
- Bangladesh: 1972
- The Bahamas: 1973
- Grenada: 1974
- Papua New Guinea: 1975
- Seychelles: 1976
- Solomon Islands: 1978
- Tuvalu: 1978
- Dominica: 1978
- Kiribati: 1979
- Saint Lucia: 1979
- Saint Vincent and the Grenadines: 1979
- Vanuatu: 1980
- Belize: 1981
- Antigua and Barbuda: 1981
- Maldives: 1982
- Saint Kitts and Nevis: 1983
- Brunei: 1984
- Namibia: 1990
- Cameroon: 1995
- Mozambique: 1995
- Rwanda: 2009
Some countries have also left the Commonwealth only to join again later.
In regards to the Bahamas, after they became an independent country, they joined the Commonwealth in 1973.
Did The US Ever Own The Bahamas?
No, the US never owned the Bahamas.
However, there was a brief period in which US forces took control of the town of Nassau.
During the American Revolution, the US navy captured the town of Nassau.
Since the islands were under British control at the time, the colonists needed to ensure that British forces weren’t using them as a staging ground for their troops.
They only held the port for a few days, however, before they evacuated.
As such, this was the closest the United States has ever been to owning the Bahamas.
Conclusion
Although the Bahamas are geographically close to the United States and share a special relationship with the country, the United States does not own the Bahamas.
The Bahamas originally belonged to the Lucayan people before the Spanish slaughtered, enslaved, and killed them with disease.
After that, the British would start to colonize the island and control it until the Bahamas became independent in 1973.
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