Although a territory of the British Empire, during the American Civil War, the Bahamas were affected by the great conflict. Much as in the age of pirates the Bahamas were a haven for the swashbucklers, between 1861 to 1865 the Bahamas were a haven for blockade runners aligned with the Confederate States of America. Although Florida is still only 55 miles away, the state had few ports of any real consequence at the time. Hence, blockade runners would make their trips from Nassau to Charleston, South Carolina, the largest Confederate port on the Atlantic Coast.