History
Originally inhabited by the Lucayans, a branch of the Arawakan-speaking Taino people, the Bahamas were the site of Columbus' first landfall in the New World in 1492. Although the Spanish never colonized the Bahamas, they shipped the native Lucayans to slavery in Hispaniola. The islands were mostly deserted from 1513 until 1648, when English colonists from Bermuda settled on the island of Eleuthera.
In 1670 King Charles II granted the islands to the Lords Proprietors of the Carolinas, who rented the islands from the king with rights of trading, tax, appointing governors, and administering the country. The Bahamas became a British crown colony in 1718, when the British clamped down on piracy.
The first meeting of a legislative body for the Bahamas took place on 29 September 1729, when twenty-four members representing the islands of New Providence, Eleuthera, and Harbour Island gathered together as the General Assembly.
Bahamians achieved self-government in 1964 and full independence within the Commonwealth of Nations on July 10, 1973, retaining Queen Elizabeth II as monarch. The Parliament as presently constituted was established by Chapter 5 of the Constitution of The Bahamas, which came into effect upon the country's independence from the United Kingdom.
Read more about this topic: Parliament Of The Bahamas
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