dissolution of families in trade." Bahamas The Bahamas' first British arrivals came from Bermuda in the 1640s and settled on the Island of Eleuthera, they are known as the Eleutheran Adventurers. By 1670 the Bahama Islands were granted to the Lord Proprietors of the province of Carolina. By the early 1700s The Bahamas was largely known as a haven for pirates, especially on the island of New Providence. Piracy became a serious concern for the British and they had acquired the Bahama Islands back from the Lord Proprietors making the Bahamas a British Crown Colony for the first time in 1717. By 1718 Woodes Rogers became the first royal governor of the Bahama Islands and by 1729 he established the House of Assembly. The Privateer business brought prosperity to the island of New Providence for the first time. Around the time of the American Revolutionary War many British Loyalist fled from main land colonies and settled in the Bahama islands bringing with them many slaves turning the black population in the Bahamas into the majority for the first time. On 10 July 1973, the Bahamas gained independence from Britain, becoming a sovereign state. Leeward Islands Colonial period 1627–1816 Under the Carlisle proprietorship of 1627, Barbados and the Leewards were grouped together. In practice this arrangement was difficult to administer, and Thomas Warner governed the Leeward Islands only. In 1660 Lord Willoughby, as Governor of Barbados, also governed all of the Eastern Caribbean, then under English rule. This scheme was approved by the Leewards as they needed the military aid of Barbados at the time during the Second Anglo-Dutch War. Otherwise, the planters on the Leewards competed with those in Barbados as rivals for the greatest share of the sugar trade with England. After the war, England gave in to the demands of the Leewards for separate government. In 1671 the Crown assigned a governor-in-chief to manage St. Kitts, Nevis, Anguilla, Montserrat, Antigua and Barbuda. Sir William Stapleton established the first federation in the BWI in 1674. Stapleton set up a General Assembly of the Leewards in St. Kitts. Antigua, Montserrat, Nevis and St. Kitts sent two representatives each. One governor had responsibility for the Leewards and a lieutenant governor was appointed for each island. Stapleton's Federation was active from 1674 to 1685, during his term as governor; the General Assembly met regularly until 1711. Afterwards it only met once more