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cent share of all sales of salvaged commodities, and the governor himself col-
lected 10 percent. With government backing, many wreckers grew bold
enough to begin luring ships onto the rocks once more. Still others struck bar-
gains with disloyal seamen who helped to arrange shipwrecks for the pur-
pose of plundering cargo.
From 1861 to 1865, during the American Civil War, residents of the
Bahamas found another source of income: blockade running. In order to
squeeze the Confederacy (the rebellious Southern states) economically, the
Union, with its superior navy, imposed a naval blockade. Foreigners attempt-
ing to trade with the South risked having their cargoes confiscated or their
ships sunk. In addition to hitting the Confederacy hard, the blockade hurt
Great Britain, whose textile industry depended on cotton grown in the
Pirate’s Paradise 23
Tourists from the
United States buy
coconuts and fruit
from a vendor in
Nassau, circa 1900.