New Providence Island, Bahamas

The Pirate's Realm

A sixty-square mile island in the middle of the British Bahamas, pirates were said to dream of heaven being in New Providence. The capital of the Bahamas is here at Nassau, the industrial center of the island chain. (continued below)
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Pirates in the Caribbean

New Providence, Bahamas-

A sixty-square mile island in the middle of the British Bahamas, pirates were said to dream of heaven being in New Providence. Abandoned by the British in 1704 after numerous attacks by the Spanish and the French, the port of Nassau was considered an ideal harbor when pirate Henry Jennings arrived sometime after the War of the Spanish Succession ended in 1714.

With a shallow anchorage to prevent the intrusion of warships, close proximity to the major trade routes, and abundant natural resources of food, water, and timber, New Providence quickly grew into a sail-tent city full of the most notorious pirates of the age. Blackbeard, Charles Vane, Jack Rackham, Samuel Bellamy and others had free reign to repair and refit their ships and spend their loot in the capital of the Bahamas. There was no law or authority to stop them....until London found out.

New Governor Woodes Rogers arrived in August 1718 and with the help of the now pirate hunter Benjamin Hornigold quickly began to disassemble the pirate port through pardons, conflict, and the first mass hanging in December of that year. It marked the beginning of the end of the Golden Age of piracy. The pirates that survived fled New Providence to find heaven elsewhere.

Today, Nassau is a popular tourist spot, and businesses throughout New Providence profit from their association with the short time when the island was the virtual capital of the pirate kingdom.

New Providence Island, Bahamas

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