978-1-4222-3316-0

Pirate’s Paradise 21

A statue of Woodes Rogers (1679–1723), the first British royal governor of the Bahamas, stands in front of the British Colonial Hotel, Nassau. Once Rogers arrived in the Bahamas in 1718, he succeeded in virtually eliminating pirates from the region.

Woodes guaranteed that all pirates who surrendered would receive amnesty . He also promised that those who did not surrender would be treat- ed harshly: their ships would be sunk, and they, if captured, would be exe- cuted. Hundreds of pirates did surrender. Most of the rest perished in battle with the governor’s naval forces, were hanged, or fled the Bahamas. The era of the Bahamas pirates had come to a bloody end, and Britain was now firm- ly in control of the colony. America and the Bahamas Later in the 18th century, Britain would have more trouble with its overseas colonies—but this time no easy solution would present itself. In April 1775, skirmishes in the Massachusetts colony ignited the American Revolution.