Eleutheran Adventurers 2024

THE
ELEUTHERAN
ADVENTURERS
PT 1

SC SOCIAL STUDIES DEPT

The

Puritans were settlers who

did not want to worship in the
Anglican church, they wanted to
worship freely.

The Eleutheran

Adventurers were a group
of Puritans who came to The
Bahamas for religious freedom.

WHO WERE

THE

PURITANS?

PURITANS BELIEF

1. Believe that

Church and
State should

be separated.

2. The Anglican

Church was too

close to the

Roman Catholic

Church.

3. Worship was

simple with

more preaching
and less praying.

1. Believed that

Church and

State should be

together.

2. The Anglican

Church was form

out of the

Roman Catholic

Church.

3. Anglicans were

traditional in
their worship.

ANGLICANS

BELIEF

COMPARISON

A territory or region under the full political
control of a country and occupied by settlers
from that country.

• They came from

England and settled
in Bermuda, in
1612.

• Bermuda was an

English Colony, so
most people there
were Anglicans.

WHERE DID

THEY COME

FROM?

Colony

A country under the control of another
country

WHY DID THEY SETTLE IN

BERMUDA?

It was a British

colony.

They were able to

get supplies quickly
on their way to the
American colonies.

The climate was

nice.

Multiple Select

Which are beliefs of the Puritans

• seperation of church and state

• Anglican and Catholics too close or similar

• Church serve should have little singing more preaching

• Believe in one God

Multiple Choice

Why was The Bahamas left deserted in the 1500-1600?

• the arawaks died out

• the arawaks migrated

• the people were kidnapped

• the people escaped

Multiple Choice

In 1513 what was Ponce De Leon looking for?

• fountain of youth

• fountain of wisdom

• fountain of life

• Garden of Eden

Multiple Choice

In 1629 which king was in power and gave away the Bahamas

• Charles I

• Charles II

• John1

• Robert Heath

Multiple Choice

Who did the king give the Bahamas to?

• Robert Heath

• Woodes Rodgers

• William Sayle

• Lord Dunmore

Multiple Choice

What was the religion at the time of the king?

• Anglican

• Catholic

• Protestant

• Puritans

Multiple Choice

What did the King cause?

• civil war

• world war

• plague

• burning of churches

Multiple Choice

After the execution of the king who came to power?

• Oliver Cromwell

• David Copperfield

• Charles II

• Queen Mary

Multiple Choice

Why did the Puritans leave Bermuda?

• too overcrowded

• hated the weather

• escape persecution

• the king died

 They came to The Bahamas in

search of Religious freedom.

(This mean they wanted to worship
God as they chose).

 They did not want the king or

anybody else to tell them how to
worship.

 The Bahamas was still under British

Control.

 The Bahamas had warm Climate and

large amount of land suitable for
farming.

 The Bahamas was inhibited at the

time.

 The Bahamas was well situated

being close to important trade
routes.

Making of The Bahamas

WHY THE BAHAMAS?

Who led them?

The leader of the group William Sayle, along with 25 others went to England
in 1647 to organized a company called the “Company of the
Adventurers for the Plantation of Eleutheria and to seek the kings’
permission to set up settlement on Eleuthera. Eleuthera is a Greek word meaning freedom.

 The Puritans decided to leave Bermuda to go to The

Bahamas so that they can have freedom of religion.

 They sent a crew of men to examine the state of the islands

and found the following suitable conditions:

 1. The islands were uninhabited, so no conflict would arise.

 2. The islands were well situated along the trade routes.

 3. They were also claimed as a British territory (colony).

 4. It was known to be good for fishing, salt and wrecking.

The Solution

Multiple Choice

Who was their chosen leader?

• William Sayle

• Captain Butler

• Oliver Cromwell

• Woodes Rodgers

Multiple Choice

What was his occupation?

• ex governor

• pirate

• privateer

• prince

Multiple Choice

Why did they choose the Bahamas?

• the climate

• the people

• uninhabited and owned by Britain

• rich settlement

Multiple Choice

What did they name their island

• Eleutheria

• Isles of Jules

• Guanahani

• Cat Island

Multiple Choice

What was the meaning of the new country's name

• freedom

• liberty

• equality

• unity



A constitution

 is the basic principles and

laws of a nation, state, or
social group that
determine the powers and
duties of the government
and guarantee certain
rights to the people in it.

 Permission was granted and

the first constitution ratified
The Bahamas as a Republic
on July 9th, 1647. It was
called “The Articles and
Orders of The Eleutherian
Adventurers

WHAT IS A CONSTITUTION?

Articles & Orders was the
first written Constitution for
The Bahamas, Had it been a
success our Government
structure would have been a
Republic

ARTICLES & ORDERS

A constitution had

been laid down for
the colony.

There was to be

freedom of
religion and equal
justice.

 The colony was to be

called a Republic.

 Government would be

composed of a
Governor, Council of
12 and Senate of 100.

 The first senate

consisted of 100 of
the original
Adventurers.

 Each original settler

who paid £100
would receive 300
acres of land.

 Servants would

receive 25 acres

Multiple Choice

What did the Eleutheran Adventurers create?

• constitution

• prayer

• flag

• motto

Multiple Choice

What type of govt did they want?

• democratic

• republic

• monarchy

• dictatorship

Multiple Choice

How much land did they promise to European people in their constitution?

• 300 acres of land

• 100 acres of land

• 25 acres of land

• 75 acres of land

Multiple Choice

How much land did they offer to servants?

• 25 acres

• 50 acres

• 75 acres

• 100 acres

Preparations
for the
voyage

After getting permission from King Charles 1st,
William Sayle returned to Bermuda and gathered
70 settlers on including 28 slaves, their provisions,
tools, and seeds on 2 ships and made their way to
The Bahamas

2 ships carried the

Eleutheran

Adventurers from
Bermuda to The

Bahamas

1.The main ship “The
William” Captained by
William Sayle himself

2.A small sloop captained
by “Captain Butler

The Voyage

​A young settler Captain Butler argued with Sayle about beliefs. “ the entire purpose for the move was for persons to practice religion how they saw fit”​

• The tension built until William Sayle and a group that sided with him took a ship and sailed to an part of the Island.​

• While on their way a storm broke out they became shipwrecked on the “Devil’s Backbone” in the area that is known today as Spanish Wells. One man drowned. They lost everything and swam to shore.​

• They were forced to seek refuge in Preacher's Cave​

How did they survive in the beginning?

They made makeshift tools out of whatever they could find so that they
could fish.

•Sayle sent

8 men to the British colony of Virginia.

•The men came back after 9 days with provisions, tools and seeds to assist with
small scale farming

•To show their appreciation and gratitude the settlers of Eleuthera gifted the
Virginians with braziletto wood.

•It is believed that the Eleutheran Adventurers
entered The Bahamas via the Northeast Providence
Channel

•The braziletto wood that was given to the
Virginians was sold and the profit that was made
was used to help build Harvard College

Northeast

Providence

Channel

Lets take a look at
Preacher’s Cave
today

• Preacher’s cave was

used by the Eleutheran
Adventurers as shelter

• As a place to hold early

church services

https://www.eleuthera-map.com/vr/preachers-cave-vr-4.html

Multiple Choice

What was the name of the boat?

• The William

• The Butler

• Eleutheran Adventurers

• The Sayle

Multiple Choice

Who did Sayle and the others quarrel with

• Captain Butler

• Captain Johnson

• Captain Lance

• Captain Hannah

Multiple Choice

Why did they quarrel?

• he did not believe in religion

• he was of different religion

• he wanted to go somewhere else

• he did not like Sayle

Multiple Choice

What happened to Butler

• he was placed on a deserted island

• he was thrown overboard

• he returned to England

• he returned to Bermuda

Multiple Choice

Why did the William sink?

• it struck a reef

• it was attacked by canons

• it hit an iceberg

• Capt. Butler destroyed it

Multiple Choice

Where did the EA seek refuge?

• Preachers cave

• Spanish Wells

• Harbor Island

• Charles Town

Other ways of
making a living

Life on Eleuthera was hard to survive.

The inhabitants made a living by:

• Exporting Braziletto wood
• Exporting ambergris.
• Sale of wreck goods
• Fishing/conch pearl
• Farming
• Having lost all their provisions they were forced to

exist on fruits , wild berries and wild animals.

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA-
NC

Life on Eleuthera

Life became hard for the Adventurers so much so that

they were near to starvation.

• Most of the settlers were not farmers or fishermen

• The Bermudian government would exile prisoners and

unruly slaves on Eleuthera as punishment

• They relied on provisions sent by Virginians with

supplies and financial assistance

Causes for the failure of settlement on
Eleuthera

Most of the settlers

were not

experienced
fishermen or

farmers.
The colonists
who chose to stay

survived on

braziletto wood and
ambergris exports,
wrecking and the

occasional generosity

of other colonies.

William Sayle

abandoned Eleuthera

and returned to
Bermuda in 1657

Many of the original
settlers returned to
Bermuda after the
English Civil War

Others left to go to Sayle’s Island or what would be known as
Providence=hope the new was added later

soil was not good for farming as they had hoped
People survived through fishing, farming ambergris and wrecking which happened occasionally.
Settlements were also made in Harbour Isl. and Spanish Wells.

​Eleutheria

Eleutheria failed

Multiple Choice

Where did William Sayle take the small boat?

• Virginia

• New England

• Boston

• Washington

Multiple Choice

What did they give him?

• ship and supplies

• 3 ships

• food and supplies

• animals and vegetables

Multiple Choice

What did they give to New England as payment

• braziletto wood

• money

• ambergris

• land

Multiple Choice

Which college in New England are we connected to?

• Boston College

• Howard College

• Harvard College

• NYU

Multiple Choice

How did people NOT make a living in Eleutheria

• cotton plantations

• ambergris

• occasional shipwreck

• wood

Multiple Choice

Why did people move to New Providence?

• influx of criminals from Bermuda

• more brailetto wood

• more wealth

• Sayle ordered them to

Sayles's Island(Providence)

By 1670

there were several hundred settlers on another island. New Providence which had first been called Sayle's Island. There the early settlers found life somewhat easier than in Eleuthera and so filled with hope named it Providence the New was added later.

The island was better than Eleuthera for several reasons

1. central

2. sheltered location

3. good harbour

4. ships could get there via Providence channel

5. land proved better for farming

6. seas were good for fishing

The main town on the island was called Charles Town It was renamed Nassau after William King of England. this began a

new era in Bahamain history.

Multiple Choice

What was the 1st name of New Providence

• SAyle's Island

• Charles Town

• New Providence

• Nassau

Multiple Choice

What does Providence mean

• hope

• faith

• love

• religion

Multiple Select

What were the reasons that New Providence was better than Eleuthera

• centrally located

• good harbors

• sheltered location

• land was good for farming and seas good for fishing

Multiple Choice

Charles Town was renamed Nassau after

• William King of England

• John 1

• Charles II

• Charles I

Results of
Settlement

The first

constitution
“ Articles &

Orders”

was

introduced

The first
enslaved

Africans(28)

were

brought to

The

Bahamas

The 1st

Europeans
to create a
settlement

in The

Bahamas