Tuesday, September 9, 1997

Belize celebrates 199th Anniversary of St. George's Caye Battle

Today Belize celebrates it's 199th Anniversary of the Battle of St. George's Caye. This public & bank holiday will be marked with official ceremonies throughout the country as well a Citizen Parades and a jump up celebrations.


St. George's Caye Day
Early settlers, who became mainly logwood cutters, was the target of many attacks from neighbouring Spanish settlements as Spain had claimed ownership of almost all of the New World. In 1763 Spain, in the Treaty of Paris, allowed the British settlers to engage in the logwood industry. This was reaffirmed by the Treaty of Versailles in 1783 and the area of logwood concession was extended by the Convention of London in 1786. But Spanish attacks continued until a solid victory was won by settlers, with British naval support, in the Battle of St. George's Caye in 1798. After that, British control over the settlement gradually increased and in 1862 British Honduras was formally declared a British Colony.