The Bahamas in American History

by Keith Tinker

THIS BOOK EXPLORES the many complex historical connections between the UNited States of America and the Commonwealth of The Bahamas. Beginning with an overview of shared early Spanish colonization, the book is the first attempt to provide a comprehensive study of the impact of the sequential development of the United States on events in the emerging Bahamas, placing the heretofore marginalized history of the island nation firmly into the orbit of Atlantic historiographical literature. Among other things, the books sheds light on the role played by the islands in a series of significant events in the U.S. history. These include the American Revolution, in which four of the initial official military actions of the fledgling U.S. Navy comprised repeated invasions of British-controlled Nassau, capital of the Bahamas; the American Civil War during which Nassau became on of the main bases for supply of vital goods and ammunition to the Confederacy; the intrigues of the Volstead Act, which legislated prohibition but also caused the temporary transformation of Bahama ISlands into major transshipment centers for the smuggling of alcoholic beverages to a multitude of prohibition-defiant and "thirsty" Americans; and the significant role placed by Bahamian migrants in the creation of the city of Miami and other areas of south Florida. The author draws on a wealth of tapped and untapped primary sources and presents a new perspective on the "Bahamian experience" that helped to define the self-proclaimed American credo of "Manifest Destiny."

172 pages, Hardcover

First published November 30, 2011

Reviews

[Sasha (bahareads) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tinker does a great job covering a topic that is not widely known about. The Bahamas in American History was succinct and a bit dry in some chapters. You can see how the Bahamas plays a part in American History, especially in the development of Florida. Tinker also covers the cultural exchange between America and The Bahamas and how they have influenced one another in significant ways.

[Tim Elston · Rating 2 out of 5]

This read more like a college term paper than like a book written by a professional historian. It had too many block quotes, copying and pasting large chunks of text from others' works, instead of thoughtfully weaving small quotes into the author's own words. I was tempted to count the number of lines of block quotes, relative to the number of lines in the book, suspecting the tally would be approximately one-third, or more, of the total. This excessive quoting resulted in the text never being able to establish a cadence or narrative flow of its own. This was unfortunate, given the interesting topic. For subsequent editions, I recommend that the author address this problem and rework the text to comprise a substantially larger percent of his own words.