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Title:Belize Arts Council
Description:With a population of 195,000, Belize has a highly varied mixture with an exciting history. The history of Belize is the history of the Maya, the European, (both Spanish and English), Kekchi, African, East Indian, Chinese, Garifuna (Garinagu) people of the Middle East, Central Americans and many others. Three Maya languages (Mopan, Kekchi, and Yucatec) are spoken, making it virtually unique among the Caribbean countries. The language understood by most people is an English-derived Creole. Most Belizeans are of mixed ancestry: Mestizo (43.6%) is of Spanish and Maya descent, Creoles (29.8%) are of African and European ancestry while the three Maya groups make up 11% with the Garifuna (6.6%) a mixture of Amerindian Caribs and Africans.

According to archeologists working in Belize, the Maya have been in Belize as far back as 2,500 B.C. These Maya whose advanced civilization reached its peak between the 7th and 9th centuries were expert farmers employing advance methods of agriculture such as terracing, tree cropping and using raised fields with drainage canals. They studied advanced astronomy, devised a precise calendar, used math based on the zero concept, built magnificent temples, palaces and ballcourts which can be seen at Lamanai, Nim Li-Punit, Altun Ha, Xunantunich and Caracol.

From the early 16th century, to the early 18th century there was a period of Spanish colonial influence in Belize with periodic domination of Maya Belizeans. An expedition led by Davila to today's Corozal was quelled by Nachankan, Maya Chieftan with the help of Gonzalo Guerrero, a Spaniard, who married the chief's daughter and decided to fight with the Maya. Today Guerrero is known as the father of the Mestizo race. Other attempts by Gaspar Pacheco, Alonso Pacheco, Juan De Garzon and Martin Rodriguez and others were made to conquer the Belize Maya but were to no avail.

British occupancy of Belize dates to the mid-seventeenth century when one ex-buccaneer turned logwood cutter, Bartholomew Sharpe, came into contact with a Spanish priest Padre Jose Delgado in the Mullins River area of Belize. Padre Delgado was making his way from Guatemala to Mexico. From Spanish archives and records we can prove an early British presence in Belize. At this time piracy had been outlawed and logwood was fetching a pretty price on the European market in England's textile industry. In the latter eighteenth century and early nineteenth century. British settlers increasingly moved into the interior in search of mahogany. In this process the Maya strongly resisted British attempts to take over their territory.

In 1788, the Maya attacked woodcutters at New River. In 1802, some British troops were asked to be "sent up river to punish the Indians who are committing depredations upon the Mahogany works." Despite strong resistance the Maya were forced back by the British deeper into the rainforest around San Ignacio, Cayo. This however, did not keep the Maya down. They continued to fight right up to 1867 when Governor Austin ruled: "No Indians will be at liberty to reside upon or occupy or cultivate any land without previous payment or engagement to pay rent whether to the crown or to the owner of the land." It was in 1872 that Marcos Canul attacked the British Barracks at Orange Walk. He demanded rent and land but he could not capture the barracks and was killed.

The switch from logwood to mahogany, a hardwood found in the interior scattered in the Belize rain-forest, required more labor than the Baymen (as the early British settlers were known) could supply. By 1724, British settlers had acquired Afican slave labor from West Africa, via Bermuda and Jamaica. By 1745 slaves made up 71% of the population. The British colonial administration passed laws to assert their ownership of the land and timber extraction continued. Unlike plantation slavery in the Caribbean, the Belize version allowed slaves closer proximity to their masters but did not allow them to farm except for occational "provision grounds". Slaves carried machetes and shotguns for jungle survival.

The second half of the eighteenth century witnessed four slave revolts as well as a number of unsuccesful attempts by the Spanish to dislodge the Baymen at the 1798 Battle of St. George's Caye. When abolition came in 1834 and apprenticeship in 1838, the timber interests still controlled the fate of the economy of the country through labor arrangements and land ownership. Reaction to this inequity was periodically expressed in riots and disturbances. In 1894 when mahogany workers returned to Belize City to discover a currency devaluation, workers led by John Alexander Tom rioted. In another instance, Black Belizean soldiers who had suffered discrimination during World War I in Europe returned home to protest unequal, racist treatment. Following the Great Depression, a devasting hurricane in 1931, unemployment, poor housing and severe economic and social problems came protests. One man Antonio Soberanis, led workers in Belize City and Dangriga to stand up for their rights. By December 1949, the devaluation of the Belize dollar again resulted in the immediate worsening of the situation of the working class. A group of dynamic, concerned young men: George Price, (Father of Belize Independence,) John Smith, Philip Goldson and Leigh RIchardson formed the People's Committee which became the People's United Party a year later. Its objective was "to gain for the people of this country political and economic independence."

During the 1950's and 60's Belize struggled to gain adult suffrage and self governement. Finally during the 1970's and 80's, there was the struggle to gain both political and economical independence. On September 21, 1981, Belize gained its political independence. Our job now continues for greater self sufficiency and economic independence.
Category:Government and Community: Government Offices and Embassies
Link Owner:Belize Business Directory
Address:27 Regent Street
City:Belize City
District/Caye:Belize
Country:Belize
Phone Number:501 227-2110
Map:


Date Added:November 19, 2009 08:23:03 PM
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