The History and Politics of the Bahamas

 

The History of the Bahamas


The Discovery of the Bahamas

Lucayan people welcoming Columbus

During 300 AD, The Bahamas existed as just a regular Island that was discovered by people who today live in Cuba. Similar to the Bahamas, Cuba did not have a name and was just a regular Island. Around 1500 AD Lucayan people began to settle in the Bahamas thanks to Christopher Columbus, who had arrived at the island of San Salvador in 1492. When Columbus discovered the Bahamas there were already more than 35000 people living in the Bahamas. Soon after this, Lucayans population drastically decreased due to slavery and diseases.  


English rule over the Bahamas

Woodes Rogers
In 1692, The Bahamas was claimed by the English but there were not any settlements until 1649. In 1649, English Puritans in search of religious freedom came to the Bahamas. English Puritans desired a place where they could follow practice their religion without being bashed by the King of England. But what the English did not know is how complicated it would be to grow food and farm in the Bahamas. In 1670, "Nassau was overrun by lawless, seafaring men." (Bahamas History - The First settlements and the Age of Piracy, 47)  Later through the years, the Bahamas began to get raided many times by the Spanish, the French, and sometimes even Pirates. In order to have dealt with this problem, the king of England sent a man named Woodes Rogers to restore order to the Bahamas. In fact, Woodes Rogers did bring order to the Bahamas later on. In 1898, borders for the Bahamas were opened and eventually became independent on July 10th, 1973.


After Independence


After the Bahamas became a free country, they joined an organization called the commonwealth which was a constitutional, parliamentary democracy. "In 1969 the name Commonwealth of the Bahama Islands was adopted."(Government and Society, Encyclopedia Britannica, 20) The leader of the Bahamas wasn't like the U.S where the U.S has a president. The Bahamas leader is a prime minister and the government has a(n) House of Assembly and an appointed Senate. This includes a Court of Appeals and a Supreme court. The Court of Appeals and Supreme court sit in the Judicial branch in the Bahamas. Similar to the U.S. The Bahamas has two political parties that are like the democrats and republicans. The Democrats in The Bahamas are the Progressive Liberal Party. The Republicans would be the Free National Movement. 


Sources

“Bahamas History - The First Settlements and the Age of Piracy.” The Islands of The Bahamas, www.bahamas.com/our-history.

“Government and Society.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., www.britannica.com/place/The-Bahamas/Government-and-society.
















Comments

  1. Nalleli NizApril 7, 2021 at 4:08 PM

    Hello Jordy! I really like how you set up your page for the History and Politics of the Bahamas. You did a good job at citing your sources. It was interesting reading about the history and politics. One thing I found interesting was about the government in the Bahamas. It's cool to know about how different governments work in different countries. In this case, the Bahamas has a parliamentary democracy. Keep up the good work!

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