Today we think of Nassau being a tropical vacation paradise full of beautiful hotels
with pristine white sand beaches and crystal clear waters. Cruise ships routinely stop
here and divers explore the gorgeous coral reefs offshore. It wasn’t always this way
and today we’re going to explore Nassau’s past.
In 1670 British settlers on New Providence founded a town around a fort and named it
Charles Town in honor of the English King Charles II. The town was used as a base for
privateers against the Spanish up until 1684 when a Cuban privateer named Juan de Alarcón
invaded on behalf of Spain. Alarcón arrived with 150 men at dawn and, without having any
chance to react, the English were incapable of defending the town. The Bahamian governor,
Robert Clarke, was captured and ultimately tortured to death being roasted on a spit.
The town was burnt to the ground and the remaining English fled with around 200 fleeing to Jamaica.
In 1695 the town was rebuilt under Governor Nicholas Trott and renamed Nassau in honor of
William III, King of England. William’s family was called the House of Nassau. In
October 1703 Nassau was again invaded by a Spanish and French allied force that occupied
the town before once again burning it down. After this the English largely ignored the
Bahamas and there was no legitimate governor until 1718. During this time Nassau became
a pirate haven and the Governor of Bermuda reported that there were over 1,000 pirates
in Nassau. The pirates transformed Nassau into a pirate republic, a radical concept
for the day where the men governed themselves. The harbor was too shallow for large
warships but could fit around 500 sloops, there was fresh fruit, game for hunting, and
a fresh water source. The republic was led by two pirates who were bitter rivals - Benjamin
Hornigold and Henry Jennings. Jennings was a mentor to Charles Vane, Calico Jack Rackham,
Anne Bonny, and Mary Read. Hornigold was a mentor to Sam Bellamy, Stede Bonnet, and the
famous Edward Thache, better known as Blackbeard. I just want to take a moment to address the
name Thache versus Teach. In a soon to come video I’ll take a look at the name and explain
why I prefer Thache, which sounds a lot like Teach or Thatch, but in a nutshell I believe
his father has been identified as Edward Thache Sr., a wealthy plantation owner that moved
to Jamaica around 1685.
Anyway, back to Nassau. Despite pirates having personal rivalries from time to time they
agreed to ally with one another and develop the republic. Blackbeard was voted to be Magistrate
enforcing law and order as he saw fit. The Pirates rule of law was called the pirate
code and according to the code the pirates ran their ships as democracies, sharing plunder
equally, selecting their captains by popular vote, and they even had a rudimentary form
of workers compensation insurance in case someone was injured in battle. As free people
former slaves were now free men and were equal members of the crews. In some cases these
men even became captains themselves. Originally the pirates agreed to avoid attacking British
ships with Thomas Barrow remarking “We will make it a second Madagascar, and expects
5 or 600 men more from Jamaica sloops to join in the settling of Providence, and to make
war on the French and Spaniards, but for the English, they don't intend to meddle with
them, unless they are first attack'd by them”. In time this rule was broken, either due to
greed or simply slim pickings in the waters around the Bahamas. However, at the height
of the pirate republic some captains commanded fleets of ships large enough to take on Royal
Navy frigates.
As Nassau grew, both in size and in reputation, the public outcry for the removal of the pirates
also grew as well. In 1718 King George I appointed Woodes Rogers as governor of the Bahamas as
sent him with explicit instructions to break up the republic of pirates. Rogers arrived
in Nassau with a fleet of 7 ships and offered a pardon to any pirate who agreed to refrain
from further piracy. Rogers also rebuilt the fort using his own money. One of the pirates
who accepted Rogers offer was Benjamin Hornigold. Hornigold was commissioned to hunt down the
pirates who refused to surrender and bring them to justice. While pirates like Blackbeard
and Charles Vane escaped and were not captured by Hornigold he did take ten pirates prisoner
and on December 12th 1718 nine of the pirates were executed. After this the British re-established
control.
In 1776 Nassau was briefly occupied by American Marines during the Revolutionary War and during
the American Civil War Nassau was used by smugglers looking to trade with the Confederacy.
During the 1920’s and 30’s Nassau was once again used as a smuggling point, this
time to sneak in alcohol to the United States during prohibition. Today Nassau is a world
renown travel destination with Cable Beach, the hotel district of Nassau, hosting 5 hotels.
The resort Atlantis, on nearby Paradise Island, employs over 6,000 people and is the largest
employer outside of the government.
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