Population of the Bahamas 1783-1789, by race

In the six years between 1783 and 1789, the population of the Bahamas almost tripled, from 4.1 thousand to 11.3 thousand. This population growth was driven by an influx of slave labor, as the number of black inhabitants grew from 2.3 thousand to approximately eight thousand. In comparison, the number of white inhabitants grew from 1.7 thousand to 3.3 thousand. In percentages, the white population grew by 91 percent in these six years, whereas the black population increased by over 242 percent. Records show that over sixty percent of the population lived on New Providence in both 1783 and 1786, and New Providence remains the most populous island in the Bahamas today.