Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
In the mid-seventeenth century the nearest permanent Spanish settlements to Belize
were Salamanca de Bacalar in southern Yucatán and Lago de Izabal in Guatemala.
Records are scarce, but it seems the Maya of Belize were under some form of Spanish
influence even if not under direct rule: perhaps the determination of Maya resistance
deterred Spain from full colonization; or perhaps the Maya fled to inaccessible forests
to retain their independence. Repeated
expeditions
were nonetheless mounted by
Spanish friars in an attempt to bring the heathen Maya of Tipú into the fold of the
Catholic Church, though these were never more than partially successful.
In 1695 a Spanish mission met leaders of the Itzá to discuss the
surrender of the Itzá
.
The negotiations were fruitless, and in 1697 Spanish troops attacked Tayasal, the Itzá
capital on Lake Petén Itzá (near modern Flores). At Tipú, the struggle was to continue
with simmering resentment until 1707, when the population was forcibly removed to
Lake Petén Itzá. This cruel act effectively ended Spanish attempts to settle the west of
Belize, as without labourers it would be impossible to establish a successful colony.
In the late seventeenth century Bacalar was abandoned after years of
Maya and pirate
attacks
. Spain's forces were simply too stretched to secure the vast (and relatively
gold-free) territory from Campeche to Nicaragua. British territorial ambitions now
focused on the Caribbean, too, resulting in continuous conflict. The capture of Jamaica
in 1655, after 150 years of Spanish rule, gave England a base from which it could
harass Spanish shipping.
British incursions
The failure of the Spanish to dominate southern Yucatán allowed British
buccaneers
(or
pirates) preying on Spanish treasure fleets to find refuge along the coastline, and in turn
- much later - led to Guatemala's claim to British Honduras and refusal to recognize
Belize's independence.
Some of the great Elizabethan sailors, such as Raleigh, Hawkins and Drake are known
to have been in the Bay of Honduras, and they may have sought refuge on the coast of
Belize after raids on Spanish ships, though there are no records to prove any kind of
settlement or temporary camp until the 1700s. Certainly, there was no attempt by
Britain to colonize Belize as it was doing elsewhere in the Caribbean, instead being
content to let pirates like Blackbeard roam the region; he is thought to have camped on
the Turneffe Atoll around 1718. Britain also competed with
France
and the
Netherlands
to establish a foothold in the Caribbean, each one setting up companies to
equip privateers - really government-sanctioned pirates - to raid Spanish treasure fleets.
In the periodic absences of bounty, they would plunder piles of
logwood
, ready cut and
awaiting shipment to Spain. Hard and extremely heavy, it was worth £90-110 a ton
back in Britain, where it helped to build up the textile industry as a black, red and grey
dye for woollens. Such an abundance of convertible wealth attracted numerous British
buccaneers, possibly as early as 1638, who settled along the Spanish Caribbean
coastline, including at the mouth of the Belize River.
The various treaties signed between Britain and Spain from the late seventeenth to the
mid-eighteenth century, attempted first to outlaw the buccaneers, but eventually
allowed the British to establish logwood camps along the rivers in northern Belize. This
was never intended to legitimize permanent British settlement of perceived Spanish
imperial territory, thus the camps periodically came under attack. But the attention of
1638
1660
1697
The Maya rebel, forcing
Spanish to abandon Tipú
on the Macal River and
Chetumal
British pirate Bartholomew
Sharpe harvests logwood in
Belize, and British buccaneers
and Baymen settle the coast
Conquest by Spanish troops of the
Itzá Maya of Noh Petén (present-
day Flores), last independent Maya
kingdom
