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HISTORY |
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Belize is the youngest nation in Central America, gaining full
independence from Britain only in 1981, and its history has been
markedly different from the Latin republics in the isthmus since at
least the mid-seventeenth century. Although all the Central American
countries were colonized by European powers from the early sixteenth
century, it was the colonial entanglement with Britain that has given
Belize its present cultural, social and political structures.
After crossing the Bering land bridge the early peoples of the Americas
rapidly spread southwards, developing into the so-called Clovis hunter-gatherer
culture by 11,000 BC. Worked stone flakes from this era have been found
at Richmond Hill, in northern Belize. Gradually the hunters turned to
more intensive use of plants, particularly the newly domesticated maize
and beans , settling into primarily agricultural societies in Belize
during the Archaic or Proto-Maya period , lasting from around 7500 BC
until later than 2000 BC. Few visible remains from this period can be
seen today, however, and it was only during the subsequent Preclassic
period (1500 BC-300 AD) that the culture that we recognize as Maya
emerged distinctly.
City-states emerged, with larger and more elaborate buildings. Temples
and palaces were built of stone, using the famous Maya corbelled arch,
and characteristic stepped-pyramids rose above enormous plazas. Ceramics
found at Cuello , near Orange Walk, dating from around 1000 BC, are
amongst the earliest in the Maya lowlands. Cerros , at the mouth of the
New River, and Lamanai , on the New River Lagoon, expanded into great
trading centres, probably continuing in this role right through the
Classic period into the Postclassic era.
The Classic and Postclassic periods
Whatever the original construction dates of the Maya sites in Belize,
most of what you can see today dates from the Classic period (300-900
AD), the greatest phase of Maya achievement. Elaborately carved stelae
bearing dates and...
Whatever the original construction dates of the Maya sites in Belize,
most of what you can see today dates from the Classic period (300-900
AD), the greatest phase of Maya achievement. Elaborately carved stelae
bearing dates and emblem-glyphs tell of actual rulers and of historical
events, such as battles, marriages, and the dynastic succession. The
best example in the country is at Nim Li Punit , north of Punta Gorda.
Developments in the Maya area were powerfully influenced by cultures to
the north, above all that of Teotihuacán , which dominated central
Mexico during the early Classic period until its collapse in the seventh
century, an event which sent shockwaves throughout Mesoamerica. However,
as the new Maya rulers in Belize gradually established dynasties free of
Teotihuacán's military or political control, their cities flourished as
never before.
The entire Belize River valley was thickly populated during Classic
times, with powerful cities such as El Pilar and Xunantunich in the west
controlling this important trade route. Many Maya centres were much
larger than contemporary Western European cities: Caracol had an
estimated 150,000 people. Exactly how the various cities related to one
another is unclear, but it appears that three or four main centres
dominated the Maya region through an uncertain process of alliances.
Calakmul , in Campeche, Mexico, and Tikal in Petén, Guatemala, were the
nearest of these " superstates " to Belize, but in 562 AD Caracol
defeated Tikal, as shown by a Caracol ball-court marker. Detailed
carvings on wooden lintels and stone monuments at the site depict
elaborately costumed lords trampling on bound captives.
The end of the Classic Maya civilization, when it came, was abrupt. By
750 AD political and social changes began to be felt; alliances and
trade links broke down, wars increased and stelae were carved less
frequently. Most cities rapidly became depopulated and new construction
ceased over much of Belize after about 830 AD. By the end of the Classic
period there appears to have been strife and disorder throughout
Mesoamerica. But not all Maya cities were deserted: those in northern
Belize, in particular, survived and indeed prospered, with Lamanai and
other cities in the area remaining occupied throughout the Postclassic
period (900-1540 AD). In the years leading up to the Spanish Conquest,
the Yucatán and northern Belize consisted of over a dozen rival
provinces, bound up in a cycle of competition and conflict.
The Conquest
When the conquistadors arrived in Yucatán from the 1530s onwards, Maya
towns and provinces were still vigorously independent, as the Spanish
found to their cost on several occasions. Northern Belize was part of
the wealthy Maya province of Chactemal...
When the conquistadors arrived in Yucatán from the 1530s onwards, Maya
towns and provinces were still vigorously independent, as the Spanish
found to their cost on several occasions. Northern Belize was part of
the wealthy Maya province of Chactemal (the name lives on today as
Chetumal, in Quintana Roo, Mexico), with its capital probably at Santa
Rita , near Corozal. Trade, alliances and wars kept Chetumal in contact
with surrounding Maya states up to and beyond the Spanish conquest of
Aztec Mexico. Further south was the province known to the Maya of
Chetumal as Dzuluinicob - "land of foreigners" - whose capital was Tipu
, located at Negroman, on the Macal River south of San Ignacio. The Maya
here controlled the upper Belize River valley and put up strenuous
resistance to attempts by the Spanish to subdue and convert them. The
struggle was to continue with simmering resentment until 1707, when the
population of Tipu was forcibly removed to Lago de Petén Itzá, near
Tikal.
The first Europeans to set eyes on the mainland of Belize were Spanish
sailors in the early 1500s, but they didn't attempt a landing. In 1511 a
small group of shipwrecked Spanish sailors managed to reach land on the
southern coast of Yucatán: five were immediately sacrificed but the
others were taken as slaves. One of them, Gonzalo Guerrero , later
married the daughter of Nachankan, the chief of Chetumal, and became a
crucial military adviser to the Maya in their subsequent resistance to
Spanish domination. The archeologist Eric Thompson calls him the first
European to make Belize his home.
By 1544 however, Gaspar Pacheco had subdued Maya resistance sufficiently
to found a town on Lake Bacalar, and a mission was established at
Lamanai in 1570. Maya resentment was always present beneath the surface,
however, and boiled over into open rebellion in 1638, forcing Spain to
abandon the area. The whole region from southern Yucatán to Honduras was
never completely pacified by the Spanish, nor were administrative
boundaries clearly defined, but it is likely that the Maya of Belize
were influenced by the Spanish, even if they were not ruled by them.
The arrival of the British
The failure of the Spanish authorities to clearly delineate the southern
boundary of Yucatán subsequently allowed buccaneers or pirates (primarily
British) preying on the Spanish treasure fleets to find refuge along the
coast of Belize. When...
The failure of the Spanish authorities to clearly delineate the southern
boundary of Yucatán subsequently allowed buccaneers or pirates (primarily
British) preying on the Spanish treasure fleets to find refuge along the
coast of Belize. When Spain attempted to take action on various
occasions to expel the British there was confusion over which Spanish
captain-general maintained jurisdiction in the area. Consequently the
pirates were able to flee before the Spanish arrived and could return in
the absence of any permanent Spanish outposts.
Treasure wasn't always easy to come by and sometimes pirates would
plunder piles of logwood which had been cut and were awaiting shipment
to Europe. Worth £90-110 a ton, the hard and extremely heavy wood was
used in the expanding British textile industry to dye woollens black,
red and grey. The various treaties signed between Britain and Spain from
the late seventeenth to mid-eighteenth centuries, initially designed to
outlaw the buccaneers, eventually allowed the British to establish
logwood camps along the rivers in northern Belize, though they were
never intended to permit permanent British settlement of a territory
which Spain clearly regarded as falling within its imperial domain. Thus
the British settlements in Belize and the Bay of Honduras periodically
came under attack whenever Spain sought to defend its interests. But the
attention of the European powers rarely rested upon the humid, insect-ridden
swamps where the logwood cutters, who became known as Baymen , worked
and lived. The British government, while wishing to profit from the
trade in logwood, preferred to avoid the question of whether or not the
Baymen were British subjects, and for the most part they were left to
their own devices.
Spanish attacks on the settlements in Belize occurred throughout the
eighteenth century, with the Baymen being driven out on several
occasions. Increasingly, though, Britain began to admit a measure of
responsibility for the protection of the settlers and occasionally sent
troops to aid the Baymen. Decades of Spanish attacks had fostered in the
settlers a spirit of defiance and self-reliance, along with the belief
that British rule was preferable to Spanish.
The final showdown between the waning Spanish Empire and the Bay
settlers (supported this time by a British warship and troops), the
Battle of St George's Caye , came as a result of the outbreak of war
between Britain and Spain in 1796. The Governor of Yucatán assembled
ships and troops, determined to drive out the British settlers and
occupy Belize. But this time the Baymen had time to prepare and voted
(by a small margin) to stay and fight. Lieutenant-Colonel Barrow was
despatched to Belize as Superintendent, to command the settlers in the
event of hostilities, and the Baymen, now under martial law, prepared
for war, albeit grudgingly. A few companies of troops were sent from
Jamaica and slaves were released from woodcutting to be armed and
trained. The sloop HMS Merlin was stationed in the bay, local vessels
were armed and gun rafts built in preparation for the attack, which was
expected at any time.
The Spanish fleet , comprising sixteen heavily armed men-of-war and
12,000 troops, arrived just north of St George's Caye in early September
1798, making several attempts to capture the caye and force a passage to
Belize. Each time they were beaten back by the Baymen with their small
but highly manoeuvrable fleet, with the Baymen's slaves at least as
eager to fight the Spanish as their masters were. During the final
attack, on the morning of September 10 , the Spanish fleet, already
weakened by desertions and yellow fever, suffered heavy losses before
sailing for Yucatán.
From settlement to British colony
Though a victory was won, the Battle of St George's Caye was not by
itself decisive. Nor did it bring any change to the life of the slaves:
even though they had fought valiantly alongside the Baymen, their owners
expected them to go back to cutting...
Though a victory was won, the Battle of St George's Caye was not by
itself decisive. Nor did it bring any change to the life of the slaves:
even though they had fought valiantly alongside the Baymen, their owners
expected them to go back to cutting mahogany - and also enabled them to
claim that the slaves were willing to fight on behalf of their masters.
Emancipation came no earlier than elsewhere in the British Empire. What
the battle did show, however, was that the strength of the Spanish
Empire was waning, while British power was expanding. Spain never again
attempted to gain control of Belize, and the battle created the
conditions for the settlement to become an integral part of the British
Empire, with Britain gradually assuming a greater role in its government.
Government House, built in Belize Town (later City) in 1814, housed the
Superintendent (always an army officer) until 1862, when Belize became
the colony of British Honduras , after which it served as home to the
Governor, head of government under British colonial policy.
Towards independence
By 1900 Belize had become an integral, though minor, colony of the
British Empire. Complacency set in amongst the predominantly white
property owners, while the black workers in the forests and on the
estates - the descendants of former slaves, known as...
By 1900 Belize had become an integral, though minor, colony of the
British Empire. Complacency set in amongst the predominantly white
property owners, while the black workers in the forests and on the
estates - the descendants of former slaves, known as "creoles" -
continued to suffer low wages and restricted freedom of movement.
Despite this, Belizeans rushed to defend the "Mother Country" in both
world wars , but each time the returning soldiers faced humiliation and
poverty. In 1919 veterans rioted in Belize City, an event that marked
the onset of black consciousness and the beginning of the independence
movement . Despite this, little changed, and even after World War II
political power still lay with a wealthy elite and with the governor, a
Foreign Office appointee, while the devaluation of the British Honduras
dollar at the end of 1949 caused additional hardship. The days of the
British Empire were numbered, however, and in 1954 elections were held
in which all literate adults over the age of 21 could vote. These
elections were won with an overwhelming majority by the Peoples' United
Party (PUP), led by George Price .
However, Guatemala , as the inheritor of the Spanish colonial territory
of that name, had never entirely let go of its claim to the territory of
Belize, regarding colonial treaties giving the British settlers rights
to cut wood but not to own the land as still applicable in law. These
interminable disputes, particularly the 1859 treaty which Britain,
despite failing to fulfil the provision to build a road allowing
Guatemala access to the Caribbean, regarded as the final settlement of
the boundary dispute, rumbled on in the background. The British
government never took the Guatemalan claim very seriously and Belize was
allowed to proceed down the road to full independence by becoming an
internally self-governing colony in 1964.
The prospect of what was (notionally at least) the department of
"Belice" becoming independent outraged Guatemalan national pride and at
least twice, in 1972 and 1977, Guatemala moved troops to the border and
threatened to invade, but prompt British reinforcements offered an
effective dissuasion. The situation remained tense but international
opinion shifted gradually in favour of Belizean independence.
The most important demonstration of the worldwide endorsement of
Belize's right to self-determination was the UN resolution passed in
1980, which demanded secure independence, with all territory intact,
before the next session. Further negotiations with Guatemala began but
complete agreement could not be reached: Guatemala still insisted on
some territorial concessions. On March 11, 1981, Britain, Guatemala and
Belize released the "Heads of Agreement", a document which would, they
hoped, eventually result in a peaceful solution of the dispute.
Accordingly, on September 21, 1981, Belize became an independent member
of the British Commonwealth , with Queen Elizabeth II as its head of
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