History in The Making

Bahamas - History in The Making
By Michael Russell

When people think about the history of the Bahamas, they think of Christopher Columbus landing there and claiming it for Spain in the late 1400s. This is entirely true. But the Bahamas also had an ancient civilization that dates back as early as 300-400 AD, which may have come from Cuba and counted on the ocean for their food. This has been discovered by recent archaeological digs on the islands. Later an advanced civilization for their time settled on the Bahama Islands. They were the Lucayan Indians. In the 10th century the Lucayans left their home in the Lesser Antilles to escape their enemies. The Carib Indians were fierce warriors and were also cannibals but the Lucayans were peaceful people and were farmers. Lucayans were very advanced in politics and religion. They used tools and lived in thatched homes. The Lucayans were a thriving colony of 40,000 when Christopher Columbus landed. It was then decided that these gentle people would be enslaved to work in mines and it only took 25 years for the entire Lucayan people to be wiped out completely. The tribe suffered from foreign diseases, slavery and hardship.

Eleutheran Adventurers helped give the island its name: Eleuthera. Eleutheran Adventurers were a group of English Puritans seeking religious freedom. What they found was hardship and the fact that they were not prepared to survive successfully on the island. They later separated into other communities at what now are Governor's Harbour and Preacher's Cave. After their leader Captain William Sayles returned from the American colonies with supplies they were better able to defend their outpost from the Spanish.