Mr Feiling, 49, said: 'Sir Henry Morgan had this idea that this may be a pirate republic where all the pirate brethren could meet and raid Spanish ships whenever they wanted.' The Spaniards stationed what turned out to be an ineffective garrison in Providence and over the decades that followed it was occupied by pirates, including Henry Morgan. The Caribbean island colony would never reach the success of its New England counterpart.Įven today, the flag of Providence makes reference to the treasure said to have been buried on the island by pirates and privateers The colonists also made peace treaties with Native American tribes nearby.īy 1641, just 11 years after it had started, the Providence experiment was over when the Spanish invaded the island and drove the English out. The document ensured that all colonists would work together to create a society together. The early signing of the Mayflower Compact is what kept order in the colony among the Pilgrims and other settlers who had travelled with them. Though more than half the original settlers died during their first winter, the colony’s population grew as more settlers joined them from England and had a relatively self-sufficient economy within its first five years. Meanwhile, Plymouth had already become a success, despite the diseases and harsh winters of New England. The group aboard the Seaflower intended to build a peaceful and orderly Christian community away from persecution, but before long bitter divisions broke out among the Puritans, soldiers and slave owners creating turmoil on the five-mile-long island. In 1630, a group of English Puritans set sail on the Seaflower – the sister ship to the Mayflower, which famously transported the first Pilgrims from Plymouth, England, to the New World in 1620. Plymouth Rock, which marks where the Pilgrims landed in New England, is pictured The colony kept law and order by signing and following the Mayflower Compact, which ensured all colonists worked together for their survival - something the colonists in Providence did not do. The Pilgrims aboard the Mayflower landed in the New World in 1620 and soon became a success, despite the rampant diseases and harsh winters of New England. The fascinating past of Providence, or Providencia, as it known in Colombia which owns the island, has been examined in detail in the book 'The Island that Disappeared' by British author Tom Feiling, who found some aspects of life there still mirror the incredible complexities of its past. Though its violent past may have been consigned to the history books, today the island of 5,000 is blighted by drug trafficking and struggles to survive because many young islanders have abandoned the fishing and traditional trades of their forebears to seek wealth elsewhere.
Instead, Providence took a turn for the worse with crop failure, a slave revolt and a Spanish invasion. The tiny island off Nicaragua was settled in 1631 by English Puritans intent on founding a colony to compete with the colony of Plymouth which had been founded a decade before. With its white sandy beaches, turquoise seas and lush, verdant interior, the island of Providence looks like most people's idea of a Caribbean paradise.īut beyond its tropical beauty, lies a troubled and turbulent history.
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