Islanders in the Stream: A History of the Bahamian People (Vol. 1) - From Aboriginal Times to the End of Slavery (1999)

From two leading historians of Bahamian history comes this groundbreaking work on a unique archipelagic nation. Islanders in the Stream is not only the first comprehensive chronicle of the Bahamian people, it is also the first work of its kind and scale for any Caribbean nation. This comprehensive volume details the full, extraordinary history of all the people who have ever inhabited the islands and explains the evolution of a Bahamian national identity within the framework of neighboring territories in similar circumstances.Divided into three sections, this volume covers the period from aboriginal times to the end of formal slavery in 1838. The first part includes authoritative accounts of Columbus’s first landfall in the New World on San Salvador island, his voyage through the Bahamas, and the ensuing disastrous collision of European and native Arawak cultures. Covering the islands’ initial settlement, the second section ranges from the initial European incursions and the first English settlements through the lawless era of pirate misrule to Britain’s official takeover and development of the colony in the eighteenth century. The third, and largest, section offers a full analysis of Bahamian slave society through the great influx of Empire Loyalists and their slaves at the end of the American Revolution to the purported achievement of full freedom for the slaves in 1838.This work is both a pioneering social history and a richly illustrated narrative modifying previous Eurocentric interpretations of the islands’ early history. Written to appeal to Bahamians as well as all those interested in Caribbean history, Islanders in the Stream looks at the islands and their people in their fullest contexts, constituting not just the most thorough view of Bahamian history to date but a major contribution to Caribbean historiography. Contents......Page 6 List of Maps and Figures......Page 8 List of Tables......Page 10 Preface......Page 12 Introduction......Page 18 PART ONE: Bahamian Genesis: The Lucayan Arawaks, A.D. 500–1525......Page 26 1. The Broken Water-Gourd: The Original People and Their Environment......Page 28 2. Fragile Adaptation: The Lucayan Way of Life and Material Culture......Page 46 3. Yocahú and Atabeyra: Life, Death, and the Lucayan Mentalité......Page 63 4. Unequal Exchange: The Spanish Fate of the Lucayan People, 1492–1525......Page 73 PART TWO: A-Coasting in Shallops: The Early Settlers of the Bahamas, 1647–1783......Page 86 5. Motherlands: The British and Bermudian Background of Bahamian Settlement......Page 88 6. The Eleutherian Adventurers, 1647–1670......Page 99 7. Life Under Proprietary Government, 1670–1700......Page 117 8. The Aura of Blackbeard: Piracy and Its Legacies......Page 129 9. Expulsis Piratis: Life Under the Old Colonial System......Page 140 10. The Bahamas in Mid-Century, 1733–1767......Page 162 11. The End of the Old Regime, 1763–1783......Page 182 PART THREE: Loyalist Slavery, 1783–1834......Page 202 12. Threatened Transformation: The Loyalist Impact......Page 204 13. Cotton and Conflict: The 1790s......Page 221 14. The Decline of Cotton and Formal Slavery, 1800–1834......Page 238 15. The Life ways of the Loyalist Elite......Page 274 16. The Slave Majority: Demographic Patterns......Page 299 17. The Lifeways of the Slaves......Page 338 18. Socioeconomic Symbiosis: Charles Farquharson and His Slaves, San Salvador, 1831–1832......Page 376 19. Slaves' Resistance and the End of Loyalist Slavery......Page 399 Epilogue: Muted Celebrations, 1834–1838......Page 433 Notes......Page 438 A......Page 482 C......Page 483 E......Page 485 F......Page 486 H......Page 487 K......Page 488 M......Page 489 N......Page 490 P......Page 491 R......Page 492 S......Page 493 U......Page 495 Z......Page 496 From two leading historians of Bahamian history comes this groundbreaking work on a unique archipelagic nation. Islanders in the Stream is not only the first comprehensive chronicle of the Bahamian people, it is also the first work of its kind and scale for any Caribbean nation. This comprehensive volume details the full, extraordinary history of all the people who have ever inhabited the islands and explains the evolution of a Bahamian national identity within the framework of neighboring territories in similar circumstances. Divided into three sections, this volume covers the period from aboriginal times to the end of formal slavery in 1838. The first part includes authoritative accounts of Columbuss first landfall in the New World on San Salvador island, his voyage through the Bahamas, and the ensuing disastrous collision of European and native Arawak cultures. Covering the islands initial settlement, the second section ranges from the initial European incursions and the first English settlements through the lawless era of pirate misrule to Britains official takeover and development of the colony in the eighteenth century. The third, and largest, section offers a full analysis of Bahamian slave society through the great influx of Empire Loyalists and their slaves at the end of the American Revolution to the purported achievement of full freedom for the slaves in 1838. This work is both a pioneering social history and a richly illustrated narrative modifying previous Eurocentric interpretations of the islands early history. Written to appeal to Bahamians as well as all those interested in Caribbean history, Islanders in the Stream looks at the islands and their people in their fullest contexts, constituting not just the most thorough view of Bahamian history to date but a major contribution to Caribbean historiography. From the back: "This groundbreaking work is not only the first comprehensive history of the Bahamian people, but also the first chonicle of its kind and scalre for and Caribbean nation...."