Nassau Bahamas Weather
The Bahamas were Christopher Columbus' first New World discovery. In 1492 he went ashore on an island originally called Guanahani and renamed it San Salvador. The native Arawak Indians were sent by the Spaniards to work in the sugar mills of Cuba and Hispaniola. Since the Spaniards did not settle here, King Charles I of England granted the islands to Sir Robert Heath. The Eleutherian Adventurers, a group of English merchants and pioneers came here seeking religious freedom, but were soon overrrun by pirates such as Blackbeard and Avery who were finally routed in 1718 by Capt. Woodes Rogers, the first royal governor.After the American Revolution, Loyalists fled here with their slaves.Not only were the Bahamas a hideout for pirates, but they were exploited by Confederate blockade runners during the Civil War and bootleggers during the Prohibition era. Spain captured the islands from the British in 1782, but the Treaty of Versailles returned them to Britain in 1783. From 1718 to 1969 the governor was appointed by the British Crown; after 1969 it was made in consultation with the Bahamas Government.
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