Bahamas



The first settlers on the island were Lucayans, they were a group of Taino Native Americans. The Lucayans came to the Bahamas, because they wanted refuge from the wars. Then Christopher Columbus founded the Bahamas a few centuries later, while he was trying to search for an easier path to India, the year was 1492. Columbus called the islands //Gran Bajamar//, it means “The Great Shallows.” As centuries passed, “Bajamar” turned to “Bahamas”. The Lucayans died out, so the Spanish settlers brought slaves from West Africa as the Lucayans’s replacement. The English claimed the Bahamas in 1629, but no one settled there until about the 1640s. The first English to settle in the Bahamas were a group, about 70 people; they landed on a tiny island called Eleuthera. Then gradually, by time, people started to settle in the Bahamas. Farming was dreadful, therefore causing people to make a living of off piracy. Piracy caused major damages and left a big foot print on Bahamian history; because English and French pirates attacked Spanish ships carrying gold from Central and South America to Spain, so by 1718 the British government had to choose an ex-pirate Woodes Rogers as the Bahamas governor. Between 1783 and 1788 there was a major population growth, due to the American Revolution, causing thousands of British to escape to the Bahamas with their slaves, and then in 1834 the United Kingdom Emancipation Act freed slaves all over the British Empire. The U.S Civil War in the 1860’s and the banning of alcohol in the United States, brought great wealth to the Bahamas. But when the banning stopped the economy crumbled. In 1940 the Duke of Windsor, became the governor of the Bahamas. On July 9th 1973, three centuries of British rule ended, because of the Union Jack. Now, the Bahamas are a democracy, with elections held every five years.



Tourism started as long ago as the 1720s.By 1874 about 500 people per year retreat to Bahamas. Starting from the 1960s, the islands became much more modern, as real-estate creators built golf courses, tennis courts, hotels, and casinos. Today, more than 3.5  vacationers visit the islands, attracted by crystal clear waters and the exotic beaches.  Most tourists go to Grand Bahamas and Nassau the capital of New Providence, but the other islands such as Out Islands are becoming very popular. Nassau ’s Straw Market lures vacationers with its cost-efficient hats, baskets, etc. Because tourism is one of the major incomes for the islands, it is important for any employees from the tourism business to be friendly and helpful and to lure Floridians with Florida only 50 miles away. There are a wide variety of choices to stay in the Bahamas; there are small modest inns, to five star hotels. Hotels in Nassau and Freemantle have everything from water sports to casinos. There was a reduction in tourism in the 1980s, the government immediately set to work by building new hotels and renovating old ones. To make the expenses easier the islands take U.S and Canad ian dollars. Although the islands’ signs, menus, television programs, and newspapers are in English, the Bahamian’s English is hard to understand due to their accents.  