How come the US, in the quest for (Drum roll) Manifest Destiny, never grabbed the Bahamas?

[raccoon]

or, for that matter, other islands in the general area?

[maxsolomon]

1. They are British Territories.

The UK is not Mexico. Big difference in Naval power.

we bought the Louisiana Purchase (hence the name) and Alaska.

[TheRealNorth]

3. Pretty much this

Last edited Wed Sep 4, 2019, 09:43 PM - Edit history (1)

There were some privately-funded attempts in the 1850's to add Cuba and some of the Central American countries like Nicaragua to the U.S. in order to add more slave states.

The term they used back then was "filibusters" to describe these attempts to add slave states to the U.S.

[Ghost Dog]

9. They were British Territories until 1973. Now they are independent.

... The Bahamas became a British crown colony in 1718, when the British clamped down on piracy. After the American Revolutionary War, the Crown resettled thousands of American Loyalists to the Bahamas; they took their slaves with them and established plantations on land grants. African slaves and their descendants constituted the majority of the population from this period on. The slave trade was abolished by the British in 1807; slavery in the Bahamas was abolished in 1834. Subsequently, the Bahamas became a haven for freed African slaves. Africans liberated from illegal slave ships were resettled on the islands by the Royal Navy, while some North American slaves and Seminoles escaped to the Bahamas from Florida. Bahamians were even known to recognize the freedom of slaves carried by the ships of other nations which reached the Bahamas. Today Afro-Bahamians make up 90% of the population of 332,600.[11]...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bahamas

[maxsolomon]

10. During the period of "Manifest Destiny" and US territorial expansion, they were.

That period was before 1973.

You are right and wrong in everything you say.

[spanone]

2. The Brits beat us to it?

[Trenzalore]

4. Until 1918 or after we couldn't beat the British Navy

Maybe if we had sided with the Germans in WWI we would have made a grab at it.

[SoCalNative]

5. Because manifest destiny

specifically focused on westward expansion across North America.

[HipChick]

6. Because China got there first...

The amount of investment by China or Taiwan is staggering, and when the Island can't meet obligations they take over ownership...

[BSdetect]

7. The British kept the airports under heavy guard.

[denbot]

11. Snort..

Sigh, it’s funny and tragic at the same time.

[hardluck]

8. The Royal Navy (nt)

[Haggis for Breakfast]

12. In a nutshell . . .

The US would have had to declare war on Britain to take over the Bahamas. The Royal Navy would have crushed any attempt to seize the islands. Remember that during the War of 1812, the British blockaded the entire east coast, and up until the 20th century, US naval power was no match.