Bishop Dr. Thomas Coke (1747-1814) worked with Rev. John Wesley to form the people called Methodists in the United Kingdom. Dr. Coke was a prolific writer and organizer. He had a heart for missions and made 9 trips to the United States. His biographers state that the influence he had in forming the Methodist tradition in the Caribbean cannot be overestimated. To this end, he wrote many volumes of the history of each island where Methodism was formed.
I am presently living in the Bahamas, and so the chapter on his long out-of-print book History of the West Indies, Volume III is of great interest to me. I have copied the entire chapter so that when our young people go to do that history of the Methodist tradition term paper, they will have this accurate and reliable resource to draw upon.
From Dr. Thomas Coke’s Book
A History of the West Indies
Volume III
Chapter XLII
“Lucayos or Bahama Islands”
pp. 193 – 219
Compiled and Digitized in 2022 by
Dr. Linda M. Lightbourne, B.A., M.Sc., M.B.A., Ed.D
Dr. Thomas Coke in his book, “A History of the West Indies” Volume III was first printed by Oxford University in 1811
In 1969, it was reprinted by Mnemosyne Publishing Co. Inc., Miami, Florida, U.S.A. from a copy in the Fisk University Library Negro Collection.
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 70-89148
Currently, it is out of print. The compiler believes that this important history of Methodism in the Caribbean and particularly in The Bahamas needs to be preserved. To that end, this digitized copy now exists for posterity.
Methodism in the Bahamas from the Beginning
Chapter XLII
Lucayos, or Bahama Islands
Bishop Dr. Thomas Coke (1747-1814)
The Luycayos or Bahama Islands, though unimportant in themselves, will ever be famous in the history of the new world. It was one of these islands that was first described by Roderic Triana, a seaman appointed by Columbus to ascend the mast, to look out for land; and it was one of these that first received the impression of European feet.
Of the discovery of these islands, the manner in which Columbus was received by these natives, their customs and modes of life, and of the first landing of the great Adventurer, we have already spoken about in the first volume. And the important acquisitions to wish that discovery lead, we have partially traced through every succeeding chapter of the work.
Gold found in St. Salvador by Columbus
With the nations of St. Salvador, the Island on which Columbus landed, he found some of that precious metal, to obtain which both avarice and injustice have united the efforts, – have shed rivers of blood, – filled empires with groans,-and desolated the earth. By these inoffensive but unfortunate natives he was conducted to Hispaniola, on which island he fixed his temporary residence; in consequence of which the Bahamas was soon forgotten, as objects unworthy of any further notice.
At the time of their discovery they were peopled with some of the Appalachian tribe; who for several years were permitted by the tyrants of the old world, to enjoy their native rocks in peace. But, unfortunately, neither riches nor poverty afford any lasting security to man; the former invites injustice and avarice, and the latter exposes to cruelty and oppression. The inhabitants were poor and defenseless, and this became the foundation of their wrongs.
Atrocities against the native people
The natives of Hispaniola, (modern-day Haiti) condemned to those mines which had been discovered in the island, finally ended their days, without pity or remorse, in labours to which they had not been accustomed, and in obtaining treasures for those who delighted in blood. Excessive hardships very soon reduced the numbers; massacre and wanton barbarity destroyed the multitude; so that in a few years this once populous island was reduced to a desert or a field of blood. To supply those deficiencies which inhumanity had occasioned, and to obtain that wealth which Everest demanded Expeditions with fitted out from Hispaniola to visit the Bahamas, to compel by force, or to decoy by stratagem, the unsuspecting natives to slavery and a grave. They were taken from their native rocks in vast numbers, and found both in the fatal Island to which they were conveyed.
How long after the discovery of America in 1492, any of these natives continue to inhabit the Bahamas, has not been ascertained. The Spaniards were the early recorders of their own transactions and enormities; but, notwithstanding the numerous truths which they have occasionally committed to the world, many facts still remain wrapped up in those impenetrable shades, which no inquiry can possibly pierce. Their deeds of darkness soon deprived the Bahama Islands of their inhabitants. They were conducted in vessels fitted out on purpose, and only found their calamities terminated by death in the mines of Hispaniola (modern day Haiti), where they were doomed to perish.
Depopulation of the Bahamas in 1672
At what period soever these islands were depopulated, it is an unquestionable fact, that not one inhabited remained on them in the year 1672. At this time they were reduced to a state of perfect solitude; the natives had been destroyed, but no Europeans had supplied their place. It was this circumstance that induced a few English, in the above year, to attempt a settlement upon one of the most eligible, called Providence. This little settlement however, soon awakened the jealousy and indignation of the Spaniards; who about 1680 meditated and accomplished that destruction, leaving not a soul alive. The island was been abandoned by them, and the Bahamas continued in its state of neglect its solitude about 10 years. In the year 1690, another party of Englishmen, more allured by hope and enterprise, then intimidated by fear, ventured to attempt a settlement once more upon the same spot, where their countrymen, about ten years before, had met their fate.
The repopulation of Providence began in 1690
In this situation, these new adventurers continued without molestation about thirteen years; during which time they had imported slaves, begun cultivation, and had erected about 160 houses. Both French and Spaniards, envious of the prosperity of this little colony, though equally enemies to each other, united together on this occasion, fell upon them, and totally destroyed the plantations which they had cultivated, and the houses which they had erected, during the preceding thirteen years. In addition to this, they seized upon their slaves, and carried them off as a booty which rewarded their exploits; but, instead of putting their proprietors to the sword, they contented themselves with banishing them from the Island.
Pirates arrive in the Bahamas
Scarcely, however, had these disappeared, before their place was supplied by some pirates, who, wearied with scouring the seas of almost every zone, without habitation, and without abode, at once dreading every force they could not conquer, and dreaded by those who knew their desperate intrepidity, fixed upon this Island as a convenient resting place, in which they might confer together, contemplate the future, and ruminate upon the past. Associating together on this Island, they renewed their former depredations more systematically than heretofore. Against the Spaniards and French, who had expelled the English, they committed no acts of hostility, and from them in return, they reasonably expected that they had nothing to fear. Nor were they deceived in this calculation; for, confining their robberies solely to the English, they were rather connived at than discouraged by the Spaniards, who viewed them as enemies to the British, without looking upon them in the light of friends to themselves.
But these depredations, which were practised with impunity upon their ships which passed the Bahamas Straits, caused the English to complain loudly of the injuries they sustained. It was, however, a subject of a complaint which none but themselves were able to dispose to redress.
These pirates were a banditti, professedly of no nation; disowning and disowned by each, and yet in part belonging almost to all. Many among them were natives of Great Britain.
Sixteen years had elapsed, from the period of their first settlement, during which they had committed their depredations with impunity, without meeting with any molestation either from those who suffered, or those, who, by private connivance, countenanced their deeds. The repeated insults which they continued to offer to the British flag, at length aroused the nation from its supineness; and in 1719 a force was fitted out to put an end to that depredatory mode of life, to which they had been so long accustomed. The command of this expedition was given to one Wood Rogers. Peace and not war was his object; necessity and humanity prompted the measures he was about to adopt; his aim being to civilize, but not destroy them.
Bandits were pardoned without impunity by King Henry VII
Though armed with powers sufficient to subdue them, an appeal to force was his dernier resort. His Majesty, forgetting the evils they had committed, extended a general pardon to all the offenders, and the only restitution they were expected to make for the past, was, that they abandoned those crimes which had merited vengeance, and betook themselves in future to such modes of life as would prove beneficial to society, and entitle them to the protection of the laws.
To facilitate designs so worthy and benevolent, Wood Rogers had brought with him some inhabitants from Europe, who were to begin a colony of themselves, in case the pirates refused to accept of his Majesty’s pardon and proposals or to cooperate with them in case of their compliance. The general outline of his plan being communicated to these free-booters, the greater part availed themselves of this clemency and proceeded to unite with the more peaceable inhabitants that were just imported. Those who refused, were obliged to quit the Island, and seek an asylum in some less frequented spot, from when they might, in company with new associates, renew their depredations.
The English lay claim to the Bahamas
An expedition and colony thus fitted out under the auspices of the British government, placed the inhabitants under its protection, and consequently, delivered them from an apprehension of those dangers to which former settlers had been exposed, and by which they had been either cut off or banished. By the establishment of this colony, the English avowed their claim to the Islands, so that henceforth all questions of rights became points of national dispute. This, however, has excited no disturbance. The right of Great Britain to possession has remained undisputed, and the title becomes more unquestionable through the advance of years.
From these circumstances, the British settlement on the Bahamas Islands began to acquire a degree of stability, to which their preceding inhabitants had been perfect strangers. This begat confidence; confidence banished suspicion; industry laid the foundation of that prosperity which the people now enjoy.
But this early settlement was confined to a single Island which had been denominated Providence. In this their town, named Nassau, was erected, and in this, their seat of government was afterward established. From Providence, as the number of inhabitants began to increase, they proceeded to people some of the adjacent Islands, just as they were impelled by necessity, or urged by choice, or allured by those prospects of fertility which appeared. Thus, in the progress of time the inhabitants and their industry extended from Providence to Bahama, and from them to Harbour Island, till Abaco, Exuma, St. Salvador, Long Island, and others, were more or less peopled, and partially brought into a state of cultivation. Providence, however, still continues the seat of superiority, its inhabitants being by far more numerous than those of any other, probably equal in point of number to all that are scattered through the rest.
The Bahama, or Lucayos Islands, as they have been generally denominated, are between four and five hundred in number, but by far the greater parts are no more than solitary rocks, incapable of being inhabited, which just lift their barren heads above the surface of the waves. Many of these have no proper name, and some, probably no European has ever yet trodden. They suggest, by their general appearance, the idea of an inundated territory, of which the vestiges are still visible, where lands and seas strangely intermingle with each other.
Taking these Islands in a collective view, they are scattered between the 22d and 27th deg. Of North latitude. And between 75 and 79 deg. Of West longitude from London, and, beyond this, they will hardly submit to any particular description. Providence Island, which is the largest lies in 25 deg. North, and 78 deg. West. It is about 20 miles in length and 11 in breadth. The soil in general is rocky and barren, incapable of being rendered exceedingly prolific, and therefore unpromising to justify any expensive attempts. The principal article that is cultivated, with an eye to exportation, is cotton. Of this the inhabitants raise about 3000 weight per annum; this constitutes their labour, and this produces almost all their wealth.
The inhabitants of these Islands, in their early settlements, like those of others, were few in number; but natural population, and occasional inmates, created a gradual increase. In 1773, the Whites amounted to 2052, and the Blacks to 2241. The revolution in America drove many from the continental shores; who, harassed and disturbed with those factions which deprive empires of their tranquillity, departed from those seats of discord, and found an asylum in foreign lands. Many of these sought a refuge in the West Indies; and of these, not a few took up their abode in the Bahamas. From this and different causes, the inhabitants of these Islands have considerably increased since the above period; but of their exact numbers no regular account has been lately obtained.
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