Despite being a territory of the British Empire, the Bahamas was affected by the American Civil War.
Much as it was during the Golden Age of Piracy, the Bahamas was a haven for swashbucklers and blockade runners that were aligned with the Confederate States.
[3] Blockade runners would take cotton from Charleston to Nassau, a trip of 560 miles with 48 hours of sailing.
[5] After the end of the war, the Bahamas fell into hard times and would not recover from until another period of American turmoil.
[5] A considerable number of Bahamians can trace their ancestry back to Southerners who left America before and during the war.