Homeward Bound: A History of the Bahama Islands to 1850

Southern Heritage Pr, 1988. paperback. Good. 8x5x0. Moderate wear and soiling to wraps, binding sound, pages lightly age-toned. Supporters of the British Crown found life in the colonies rigorous in the years prior to, during, and after the Revolutionary War. The hazards of war and the inequities of peace forced many American Loyalists into Bahamian exile. Homeward Bound is their story In the wild and turbulent Carolinas in the 1760s, colonial officials battled the first stirrings of rebellion. The Sons of Liberty were born. Tarred and feathered Loyalists were paraded in dung carts through the well-planned streets of Savannah and past the bustling shops of Charleston. Their fortunes reduced, Loyalists retreated behind British lines at New York City and in East Florida. Fortunes of war had been difficult; the results of peace were even harder to bear. In 1783, Great Britain and Spain exchanged East Florida for the Bahama Islands. Many refugees rejected the cold regions of Nova Scotia in favour of the warmer Bahamas. New York and St Augustine became the final evacuation points as more people than anticipated made the decision to emigrate. American Blacks who had escaped to freedom behind British lines during the war lived in fear of being hijacked by their former owners before they could embark The situation encountered by the loyalist refugees on their arrival in the Bahamas was more than depressing. The memory of the dense Carolina woodlands became the reality of the Bahamian scrub, the rich soil of rice and indigo plantations replaced by rock What would these brave and indus-trious planters do? THEY MOVED THE ROCKS. Photograph by Cathi Gurney Novelist and historian, Sandra Riley holds her B.A. from Barry University and her M.A. from the University of Michigan. Ms. Riley's professional affiliations include the Albert Lowe Museum, the Bahamas Archaeological Project, the Bahamas Historical Society, the Historical Association of Southern Florida and the Florida Historical Society