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shore. Later, English Puritans established trading
posts on the coast, just as fellow Puritans had
already done in New England. Over the next 100
years, more English settlements were established,
although a rougher breed of settler gradually
replaced the Puritans. Most of these men were
English, Scottish, and Irish
buccaneers
. Many were
former British soldiers and sailors, disbanded from
military service after the capture of Jamaica from
Spain in 1655. They took to calling themselves “Baymen,” after the Bay of
Honduras. In their ragtag ships, they struck out at passing Spanish
galleons
loaded with gold, silver, and hardwoods.
The British Gain Control
Although the Spanish considered themselves the “owners” of Belize
because they controlled nearby Mexico and Guatemala, they did not actual-
ly rule it. From time to time, they tried to expel the troublesome Baymen,
but failed. In 1763 and 1786, Spain signed treaties permitting settlers in the
A History Different from the Rest of Central America
19
Christopher Columbus explored the coast of
present-day Belize during his fourth and final
voyage to the New World in 1502. Within 25 years
the Spanish had established settlements throughout
Central America—with the exception of Belize.