A native of Genoa, Christopher Columbus crossed the Atlantic and 12 October 1492 landed on the island, which he named San Salvador. (The island also has the unofficial name Watling, since the XVII century pirate George Vatling made it a haven). Some historians believe that Columbus took place on the island of Samana, located 65 miles southeast of San Salvador. In 1513 Spanish explorer Ponce de Leon in search of the legendary fountain of youth explored the archipelago. The results of his research was the discovery of Florida and the flow of Gulf Stream.
Original inhabitants of the islands were Arawak Indians. However, the Spaniards have taken out to 40,000 Indians to work in mines and pearling on other islands. As a result, the Bahamas since their discovery by Columbus were almost deserted for 135 years. The British first settled on the islands of Eleuthera and New Providence in 1647 and was brought here of black slaves to work on cotton plantations. At first, the British settlements were subjected to frequent attacks by the Spaniards. These islands were a refuge for bandits and pirates.
From 1670 to 1717 years Bahamas were ruled by the governors of the British colony of Carolina. In 1776 during the American Revolution, Nassau was captured by U.S. naval forces. In 1782 and 1783. islands temporarily took possession of Spain, in 1787 the Bahamas became a British colony.
In 1834 slavery was abolished and the slaves freed. The ensuing economic downturn and the outbreak of cholera in the central part of the archipelago resulted in a significant reduction in the population. Well-being temporarily returned to the island during the American Civil War 1861 – 1865 years when the island became the base of life support the Confederacy, whose vessels were delivered from Bahamas to Florida manufactured goods and exported cotton from there, as well as during the period of American “Prohibition” 1920 – 1933, when the islands became a base for smuggling rum.
During the Second World War, the Bahamas were under the control of the Duke of Windsor, who for the sake of marrying an American abdication and the title of King Edward VIII and became a Bahamian governor U.S. troops used the Bahamas as a military air base for anti-Nazi submarines, acting in the Caribbean In our time, the American rocket launchers are in the Bahamas on alert.
In 1964, Britain granted the Bahamas internal self-government. When in 1967 brought to power a Progressive Liberal Party led by Linden Pindlingom, black Bahamians in the government got a majority. After 256 years of British rule on July 10 of that year, the Bahamas was granted independence In 80-ies Government Pindlinga subjected to numerous charges of corruption and links with drug traffickers. In elections in 1992 won Free National Movement led by Hubert Ingraham.