Baymen

The Baymen were the earliest European settlers along the Bay of Honduras in what eventually became the colony of British Honduras (modern-day Belize).

The first Baymen settled in the Belize City area in the 1650s. They were buccaneers and pirates trying to outrun the Spanish rulers in Mexico and Central America. They found that they could make a living cutting and selling logwood to the home country. Many of the first Baymen settled on what is now the Northside of Belize City. They controlled all affairs of municipal and national government through the Public Meeting.

The Baymen who established the system of slavery in Belize, in order to have servants to cut logwood. Some slaves were allowed their own plantations, while others had to depend on their owner's rations. The Baymen reluctantly allowed slaves to participate in the Battle of St. George's Caye against the Spanish and their slaves. In some cases they faced former slaves who had run away or been taken in by the Spaniards. Great Britain ended slavery in the colony in 1838. Initially the planters refused to sell land to freedmen. But Belizean slaveowners received the highest compensation, of more than 50 pounds, for selling plots of emancipated territories.

The British and Spanish engaged in frequent dispute over the territory even after the 1763 Treaty of Paris. This had ended the Seven Years War conflict between the British and French. The British and Spanish also made arrangements under this treaty, including establishing British rights to cut logwood in the area of Belize. The Spanish, who controlled the neighboring colonies, chased out the Baymen four times between 1717 and 1780. Treaties in 1783 and 1786 gave them more security. But it was only after the Battle of St. George's Caye in 1798 did the Baymen gain full control of the settlement. It was admitted to colonial status in 1863 in the United Kingdom.

...
Wikipedia