History of the Bahamas

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History of the Bahamas
Pre-Columbian Bahamas
Lucayan people Columbus' voyage to Guanahani
Spanish Bahamas
Eleutheran Adventurers
British Bahamas
Raid on Charles Town Raid on Nassau Republic of Pirates Battle of Nassau Raid of Nassau 1782 Capture of the Bahamas
Spanish Bahamas
1783 Capture of the Bahamas
British Bahamas
1783 Peace of Paris Abaco Slave Revolt Slavery Abolition Act 1833 Creole case American Civil War
Independent Bahamas
Abaco Independence Movement Hurricane Dorian COVID-19 pandemic
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The earliest arrival of people in the islands now known as The Bahamas was in the first millennium AD. The first inhabitants of the islands were the Lucayans, an Arawakan language-speaking Taino people, who arrived between about 500 and 800 AD from other islands of the Caribbean.

Recorded history began on 12 October 1492, when Christopher Columbus landed on the island of Guanahani, which he renamed San Salvador Island, on his first voyage to the New World. The earliest permanent European settlement was in 1648 on Eleuthera. During the 18th century slave trade, many purchased African slaves were brought to the Bahamas to work unpaid. Their descendants now constitute 85% of the Bahamian population. The Bahamas gained independence from the United Kingdom on July 10, 1973.