Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The twentieth century
By 1900 Belize was an integral, if minor, colony of the British Empire. The population
in the census of 1901 was 37,500, of whom 28,500 were born there. Comfortably
complacent, white property owners could foresee no change to their rule, with workers
in the forests and estates predominantly black, the descendants of former slaves, known
as “Creoles”. Wages were low and strict controls were maintained, stifling worker
organization and with the power to imprison labourers for missing a day's work.
Belizeans rushed to defend the “mother country” in
World War I
, but black troops
were not permitted to fight a white enemy and were instead placed in labour battalions
in British-held Mesopotamia. On their return in 1919, humiliated and disillusioned,
their bitterness exploded into violence, and the troops were joined by thousands of
Belize City's population (including the police) in looting and rioting, an event which
marked the onset of
black consciousness
and the beginnings of the independence
movement. The ideas of
Marcus Garvey
, a phenomenally industrious and charismatic
black Jamaican leader, and founder of the Universal Negro Improvement Association
(UNIA), were already known in Belize - the government's ban on
Negro World
, the
UNIA's magazine, contributed to the severity of the 1919 riot - and in 1920 a branch
of the UNIA opened in Belize City. Garvey believed that the “Negro needs a nation
and a country of his own” - a sentiment which found increasing support among all
sectors of black society in Belize. Garvey himself visited Belize in 1921.
The status of workers had improved little over the previous century, and the
Depression years of the 1930s brought extreme hardship, the disastrous hurricane of
1931 compounding the misery. The disaster prompted workers to organize in 1934
after an unemployment relief programme initiated by the governor was a dismal failure.
Antonio Soberanis
emerged as a leader, founding the Labourers and Unemployed
Association (LUA), and holding regular meetings in the “Battlefield” - outside the
colonial administration in Belize City. Soberanis was arrested in October 1934 while
arranging bail for pickets at a sawmill who had been arrested. He was released a month
later and meetings resumed, but the government passed restrictive laws, banning
marches and increasing the governor's power to deal with disturbances.
World War II
gave a boost to forestry and the opportunity for Belizeans to work
abroad, though conditions for returning soldiers and workers were no better than
they had been following World War I. In 1946 political power still lay with the tiny
wealthy elite and with the governor, a Foreign O
ce appointee. The devaluation of
the British Honduras dollar in 1949 caused even greater hardship. A new
constitution emerged in 1951, and in 1954 a
general election
was held in which all
literate adults over the age of 21 could vote. The election was won with an
overwhelming majority by the
People's United Party
(PUP), led by
George Price
,
ushering in a semblance of ministerial government. Belize became an
inter nally
self-governing
colony in 1964, a step intended to lead to full independence after a
relatively short time, as was the policy throughout the Caribbean. Until then, the
British government, through the governor, remained responsible for defence, foreign
affairs and security. The National Assembly became a bicameral system with an
appointed Senate and an elected House of Representatives.
The delay in achieving independence was caused largely by the still unresolved
dispute with Guatemala
. Twice, in 1972 and 1977, Guatemala moved troops to the
border and threatened to invade, but British reinforcements were an effective
1964
1971
1973
A new constitution gives
Belize autonomy, ushering in a
two-chamber parliament
The country's new capital
is established in inland
Belmopan
The country o
cially changes
its name from British
Honduras to Belize
