History of belize
“Battle of St. George’s Caye”
Over the centuries, there has been a lingering debate on whether the ‘Battle’ of St. George’s Caye actually occurred. We all know that the British conquered the Spaniards for Belize on the 10th of September 1798 because we have learnt it from childhood but there are speculations if whether there was an actual physical fight or there was non. There are two myths: One that the British defeated the Spaniards in a gruesome fight at sea and the other that the Spaniards just rowed and towed off from the fight because they new that they were weak and would lose anyway. Either way the only real way to know what actually did happen is to talk to someone who was actually there but since that would be impossible, we can only base ourselves to believe on what has been historically recorded and to try to put the facts together. I have gathered an array of facts that in my point of view give credit to an actual battle that occurred.
There has always been conflict between the Spaniards and the British over the right of the British to cut logwood and settle in the area. The area of Belize was always under dispute since the 1750’s. Spain never occupied Belize because it considered it of very little economic significance to them but yet they still considered it part of their Central American territories including Mexico. When Spain saw that the British began to use logwood and later mahogany for trade they realized that the ‘Murky’ land of Belize actually had some value. The Spaniards later then established treaties to temporarily keep the British to export the log wood and mahogany only in certain territories. The lack of any importance or official establishment on Belize from the Spaniards led the British to begin claiming it as theirs because they were the ones who would constantly come back to continue their trade. They had already self claimed Belize as theirs. In September 1779 a surprised Spaniard attack invasion captured and destroyed St.
Over the centuries, there has been a lingering debate on whether the ‘Battle’ of St. George’s Caye actually occurred. We all know that the British conquered the Spaniards for Belize on the 10th of September 1798 because we have learnt it from childhood but there are speculations if whether there was an actual physical fight or there was non. There are two myths: One that the British defeated the Spaniards in a gruesome fight at sea and the other that the Spaniards just rowed and towed off from the fight because they new that they were weak and would lose anyway. Either way the only real way to know what actually did happen is to talk to someone who was actually there but since that would be impossible, we can only base ourselves to believe on what has been historically recorded and to try to put the facts together. I have gathered an array of facts that in my point of view give credit to an actual battle that occurred.
There has always been conflict between the Spaniards and the British over the right of the British to cut logwood and settle in the area. The area of Belize was always under dispute since the 1750’s. Spain never occupied Belize because it considered it of very little economic significance to them but yet they still considered it part of their Central American territories including Mexico. When Spain saw that the British began to use logwood and later mahogany for trade they realized that the ‘Murky’ land of Belize actually had some value. The Spaniards later then established treaties to temporarily keep the British to export the log wood and mahogany only in certain territories. The lack of any importance or official establishment on Belize from the Spaniards led the British to begin claiming it as theirs because they were the ones who would constantly come back to continue their trade. They had already self claimed Belize as theirs. In September 1779 a surprised Spaniard attack invasion captured and destroyed St.