Bahamas and the American Civil War
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Despite being a territory of the
Nassau was also altered by the war. The first blockade runner docked there on December 5, 1861. By the end of the war, 397 ships sailed from the Confederacy to Nassau, and 588 went from Nassau to the Confederacy.[2] Nassau imports were valued at £234,029, and its exports were worth £157,350. In 1864, at the pinnacle of trade from the Confederacy to Nassau, imports were valued at £5,346,112 and exports at £4,672,398.[3]
Blockade runners would take cotton from Charleston to Nassau, a trip of 560 miles with 48 hours of sailing.[4] As the Union had blockaded all Confederate ports, blockade runners had to be fast. They traded cotton at Nassau for British goods, with the cotton eventually finding its way to British cotton mills.[5]
After the end of the war, the Bahamas fell into hard times and would not recover from until another period of American turmoil. During
See also
- History of the Bahamas
- Blockade runners of the American Civil War
- United Kingdom in the American Civil War
- Canada in the American Civil War
- African Americans in the American Civil War
- Foreign enlistment in the American Civil War
References
- ^ Grand Bahama Island – American Civil War Archived 2007-10-25 at the Wayback Machine Islands of the Bahamas Official Tourism Site
- ^ Stark, James. Stark's History and Guide to the Bahama Islands (James H. Stark, 1891). pg.93
- ^ Stark pg. 94.
- ^ Stark pg. 93
- ^ a b Civil war and prohibition benefited The Bahamas Archived 2008-06-01 at the Wayback Machine The Islands of the Bahamas Official Tourism Site
- ^ Barlas, pg. 59.