Long Island and Exuma are good examples of the history of Loyalists moving to the Bahamas with their plantations and way of life. Loyalists in the south moved to the Bahamas just as Loyalists in the north moved to Canada after the American Revolution because of the feared and sometimes real retribution of the Americans who supported independence. Loyalists fiercely supported the King of England and in return they were given land grants and moved their families, slaves, livestock, seeds, and even the bricks of their plantation home on ships furnished by England to islands in the Bahamas.
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18th century plantation ruins
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I recommend the novel Wind from the Carolinas by Robert Wilder for a better understanding of this history. In the end the plantations were a failure and plantation life never was recreated. But the significant history and legacy of that period shaped the Bahamas into what it is today.
One plantation family, the Morris family, had a young daughter, who was born in 1790, the year plantations started in the Bahamas, and died 1793. This site is dedicated to the death of Louisa Margret Morris, one of the youngest land Grant settlers of Long Island.
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D walks around the recently rededicated site
of Morris' Tomb and Grave Marker |
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| Morris' Tomb and Grave Marker |
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| Beautiful blue hole across from Morris Tomb |
The Adderly plantation is one of the more famous sites. We drove, walked the beach, hiked trails, and climbed walls to get to the ruins. All fun!
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| We drove off road a long way to the water |
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Walked a beautiful beach
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| Until we found the conch shell trail |
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| We followed the signs |
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| Hiked coral stone trails |
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| that lead to paths through the brush |
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| Over stone walls |
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| to the incredible ruins of a 18th century plantation |
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