History of The Bahamas - Post-emancipation

Post-emancipation

During the American Civil War, the Bahamas prospered as a base for Confederate blockade-running, bringing in cotton for the mills of England and running out arms and munitions. During Prohibition after World War I, the islands were a base for American rum-runners,smuggling liquor into the US. None of these provided any lasting prosperity to the islands, nor did attempts to grow various crops. After emancipation Caribbean societies inherited a rigid racial stratification that was reinforced by the unequal distribution of wealth and power. The three-tier race structure, which existed well into the 1940s and in some societies beyond, upheld the belief of European racial superiority, although most West Indians are of African descent. Race and racial attitudes remain important in mixed Caribbean societies.