History of British Honduras (Belize)

As Dostert writes, the British from the beginning of their presence in Belize displayed the typical European arrogance in doing what they wanted to do and taking what they wanted to take with respect to the laws and resources of the small land on the Gulf of Honduras:

Originally settled about 1638 by bands of British woodcutters illegally harvesting the timber in Spanish domains, Belize settlers managed their own affairs and government, although the Spanish tried many times to eject them" (Dostert 36).

From that point, the British strengthened their hold on the nation until 1964, when colonial status was discontinued and the colony was "granted full internal self-government" (Dostert 36-37). The name of British Honduras was changed to Belize in June, 1973, the new name having been used by Guatemalans in reference to the country. Guatemala, in fact, sought to annex Belize during the process of its winning independence, for Guatemalans had long claimed that British Honduras was a part of their country. Nevertheless, Belize won independence in September, 1981 (Dostert 37).

Belize is "bounded by the Caribbean Sea [the Gulf of Honduras] on the east, M

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efore the British, but did not exploit it economically as the British would, and therefore did not have the incentive to develop or defend it, especially because it was "too far from the colonial centers of power to be effectively controlled for long" (Merrill 162). Merrill adds that it was the Spanish who first began logging in Belize, and it was British pirates who plundered the wood from the Spanish ships. The Spanish reduced their logging activities in part because of the piracy, and the British then started cutting their own wood: "Logwood extraction then became the main reason for the English settlement for more than a century" (Merrill 163). Conflict continued between the Spanish and British throughout the eighteenth century, although the rugged nature of the land and its relative insignificance to the European powers kept hostilities to a minimum. Until the late eighteenth century, the British in British Honduras were, in the words of one shipwrecked Briton, "generally a rude drunken Crew, some of which have been Pirates" (Merrill 164). The Spanish attacked and drove out the British several times, but never settled the area and the British each time returned. However, the British did not want to set up an official gove
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Approximate Word count = 1962
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page)

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