Today In History: November 7

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NASSAU, BAHAMAS – On this day in Bahamian history, on the 7th November 1775 – governor of Virginia, John Murray issued a decree known as the Dunmore proclamation or Dunmore’s Emancipation proclamation.

This order imposed martial law in the colony and also declare quote “All indentured servants, negroes or others” End quote. To be free, provided that they join the British Army.

Many enslaved persons took up this offer and joined the British Army and formed the Ethiopian regiment. 

After the war ended in 1783 some of these soldiers or black loyalists settled in the colony of The Bahamas.

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Then in 1886, the first mass was held at St. Francis Xavier Cathedral in Nassau was held.

The newly completed cathedral on the top of West Street was the first Catholic church in The Bahamas. The mass was officiated by father A.J. Ryan of the archdiocese of New York.

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Fast forward to 2018, outrage over increasingly high power bills prompted the Minnis administration to increase vat exemption on Bahamas Power and Light bills.

Then Prime Minister Dr. Hubert Minnis told Parliament that government intends to temporarily raise the Value-Added Tax exemption ceiling on electricity bills to $300.

The initial exemption was implemented in July 2018 for bpl bills under $200. But Minnis said, “given the spike in the fuel surcharge on electricity bills government was mindful of the impact of the increase.”