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Soon the Spanish completely abandoned the Bahamas. Greater riches,
such as gold and silver, were to be found in Central and South America.
Many Spanish
galleons
carrying treasure back to Spain passed through the
Bahamas, however, and quite a few
foundered
in violent storms or were
wrecked on the reefs of the treacherous waters. In addition, pirates and
adventurers plied the area and preyed on the Spanish treasure ships.
England Claims the Bahamas
In 1629, King Charles I of England claimed the Bahamas and granted them to
an English nobleman, Sir Robert Heath. Nevertheless, the islands remained
sparsely populated.
In the late 1640s, about 100 English Puritans under the leadership of a
man named William Sayles arrived in the Bahamas. The Puritans were a
Protestant religious group who objected to, and were often persecuted by, the
official Church of England. Sayles and his followers, who had come from
Bermuda, initially landed on the present-day Abaco Island. But the group
moved on to Cigatoo Island, whose name they changed to Eleuthera, from
the Greek word for freedom. Later they established a settlement on New
Providence Island. After weathering some initial difficulties, including the
loss of all their provisions and political disagreements, the Puritan settlers
established their own independent republic.
For the king of England, the fate of a tiny Puritan republic in the
Bahamas was of little concern. Wishing to shore up support for the crown in
the aftermath of the English Civil War, King Charles II in 1670 granted the
Bahamas to six noblemen, called lords proprietors, who had earlier been
Bahamas
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