Nassau became the best-known Bahamian pirate stronghold during the Golden Age of Piracy. Its location on New Providence Island made it useful to sailors who wanted access to busy shipping routes around the Caribbean.
After the War of the Spanish Succession ended in 1713, many privateers lost legal commissions and turned to piracy. Nassau’s weak colonial administration allowed pirates and former privateers to gather there. The community later became known as the Republic of Pirates, although it was not a formally recognized state.
Pirates including Benjamin Hornigold, Charles Vane, Calico Jack Rackham, Anne Bonny, and Mary Read were associated with Nassau. Woodes Rogers, appointed governor of the Bahamas, arrived in 1718 and worked to restore British authority by offering pardons and pursuing those who refused them.
Port Royal in Jamaica was another famous Caribbean maritime center, but it was not the Bahamian port identified with this pirate community.