1800-1975 (Temporal Keyword)

DOCUMENT Citation Only Whitney Battle-Baptiste.

In 1783, following the American Revolution, the British government resettled thousands of Loyalists throughout the Bahamas. The mostly American-born Loyalists brought in captivity, a large population of American-born African descent peoples and were given Bahamian land grants to establish a cotton plantation economy. Cotton never faired well and most plantations shifted toward subsistence activities and basic needs until slavery ended in 1838.  Although former plantation owners and emancipated...