Editing The Bahamas (section)

===18th century===
[[File:Battle of Nassau.jpg|thumb|[[Continental Marines]] land at [[New Providence]] during the [[Battle of Nassau]] in 1776]]
During proprietary rule the Bahamas became a haven for [[Piracy|pirates]], including [[Blackbeard]] (''circa'' 1680–1718).<ref name="CSP-VOL29">{{cite book|last1=Headlam|first1=Cecil|title=America and West Indies: July 1716 {{!}} British History Online|date=1930|publisher=His Majesty's Stationery Office|location=London|pages=139–159|edition=Vol 29|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/cal-state-papers/colonial/america-west-indies/vol29/pp139-159|access-date=15 October 2017|archive-date=31 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180831003904/https://www.british-history.ac.uk/cal-state-papers/colonial/america-west-indies/vol29/pp139-159|url-status=live}}</ref> To put an end to the "[[Pirates' republic]]" and restore orderly government, Britain made the Bahamas a [[crown colony]] in 1718, which they dubbed "the Bahama islands" under the governorship of [[Woodes Rogers]].<ref name="Britannica, Bahamas"/> After a difficult struggle he succeeded in suppressing piracy.<ref>{{cite book|last=Woodard|first=Colin|title=The Republic of Pirates|publisher=Harcourt, Inc|year=2010|pages=166–168, 262–314|isbn=978-0-15-603462-3}}</ref> In 1720 the [[Raid on Nassau (1720)|Spanish attacked Nassau]] during the [[War of the Quadruple Alliance]]. In 1729 a local assembly was established giving a degree of self-governance for British settlers.<ref name="Britannica, Bahamas"/><ref name=DCH>Dwight C. Hart (2004) ''The Bahamian parliament, 1729–2004: Commemorating the 275th anniversary'' Jones Publications, p4</ref> The reforms had been planned by the previous Governor George Phenney and authorised in July 1728.<ref>Hart, p8</ref>

During the [[American War of Independence]] in the late 18th century, the islands became a target for US naval forces. Under the command of Commodore [[Esek Hopkins]], [[United States Marine Corps|US Marines]], the US Navy occupied Nassau in 1776, before being evacuated a few days later. In 1782 a Spanish fleet appeared off the coast of Nassau, and the city [[Capture of the Bahamas (1782)|surrendered without a fight]]. Later, in April 1783, on a visit made by Prince William of the United Kingdom (later [[King William IV]]) to [[Luis de Unzaga]] at his residence in the Captaincy General of Havana, they made prisoner exchange agreements and also dealt with the preliminaries of the [[Treaty of Paris (1783)]], in which the recently conquered Bahamas would be exchanged for [[Spanish Florida|East Florida]], which would still have to conquer the city of [[St. Augustine, Florida]] in 1784 by order of Luis de Unzaga; after that, also in 1784, the Bahamas would be declared a British colony.<ref>Cazorla, Frank, Baena, Rose, Polo, David, Reder Gadow, Marion (2019) The Governor Louis de Unzaga (1717–1793) Pioneer in the birth of the United States and liberalism, Foundation Malaga, pages 21, 154–155, 163–165, 172, 188–191</ref>

After US independence, the British resettled some 7,300 [[Loyalist (American Revolution)|Loyalists]] with their African slaves in the Bahamas, including 2,000 from New York<ref>{{cite book|last=Wertenbaker|first=Thomas Jefferson|date=1948|title=Father Knickerbocker Rebels: New York City during the Revolution|url=https://archive.org/details/fatherknickerboc0000wert|url-access=registration|location=New York|publisher=Charles Scribner's Sons|page=[https://archive.org/details/fatherknickerboc0000wert/page/260 260]|author-link=Thomas J. Wertenbaker}}</ref> and at least 1,033 Europeans, 2,214 African descendants, and a few Native American [[Creek people|Creeks]] from [[East Florida]]. Most of the refugees resettled from New York had fled from other colonies, including [[West Florida]], which the Spanish captured during the war.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Peters|first=Thelma|date=October 1961|title=The Loyalist Migration from East Florida to the Bahama Islands|journal=The Florida Historical Quarterly|volume=40|issue=2|pages=123–141|jstor=30145777}} p. 132, 136, 137</ref> The government granted land to the planters to help compensate for losses on the continent. These Loyalists, who included Deveaux and also [[Lord Dunmore]], established plantations on several islands and became a political force in the capital.<ref name="Britannica, Bahamas"/> European Americans were outnumbered by the African-American slaves they brought with them, and ethnic Europeans remained a minority in the territory.[[File:Escaping To Freedom In The Bahamas sign 01.jpg|thumb|Sign at [[Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park]] commemorating hundreds of [[African-American]] slaves who escaped to freedom in the early 1820s in the Bahamas]]
[[File:Great Isaac Cay, Bahamas.jpg|thumb|The [[Great Isaac Lighthouse|lighthouse]] in Great Isaac Cay.]]