Remembering the “Black Belizean Revolution” of 1919

October 8, 2023
by Larry Waight +

As is often the case in nations once occupied and colonized by European states, the race is complex in Belize — and few moments in this Caribbean country’s history speak to that complexity more than the Black Belizean Revolution of 1919. Though it’s an incident that can sometimes get lost in the chain of events that would follow it or overwhelmed by the larger national stories of the time, it’s an important and resonant moment in both the history of the country and the history of the world.

The Context of the Riots

Belize was associated with slavery since the days when English buccaneers first built a settlement along the Belize River’s mouth. Even after the abolition of slavery, hard labor was relegated to Chinese and East Indian indentured servants while a small group of elite English, Scottish, and later German colonists maintained control over the politics, wealth, resources, and land. By the turn of the twentieth century, racial politics were more complicated but no less fair. What’s now known as Belize was then a legitimate British colony known as British Honduras, and some Creoles — which encompassed any variety of people descended at least in part from enslaved West Africans — had developed some sense of political power. But while the British may have projected middle-class Creole people as proof of upward mobility for non-white Belizeans, the reality was far from equitable. The systems of power were built explicitly for the benefit of British royal subjects, and the token appointment of people of color couldn’t change the underlying tenets on which the society had already been built.

The economic reality of the average Belizean’s life at the time was a clear indication that inequity still existed. While a brief mahogany boom fueled by American furniture demands helped a few Creole families rise into the middle class, both the wealth and land were largely consolidated by British interests like the Belize Estate and Produce Company. The mahogany industry would collapse thanks to an unstructured slash-and-burn approach to lumber, and the chiclet and lumber industries were also experiencing a decline. As international attention turned to a looming World War, most Belizeans struggled to make a living despite living on bounteous land with abundant resources.

The Revolutionaries

It should come as little surprise that the black soldiers who left their homes in Belize to fight on behalf of the British Crown were treated worse than their white contemporaries. They were forced to perform more grueling duties only to receive fewer provisions and lower priority in terms of sleeping quarters, amenities, and basic necessities. That includes inadequate access to medical care. As the first truly mechanized war, World War I was a nightmare for anyone who found themselves in the trenches. But things were worse still for the Belizeans who found themselves deployed in West India and the Middle East. Though they fought for the Queen and country, they were treated to conditions resembling those of segregation throughout the American South. The soldiers who would serve as the impetus for the riot were volunteers who went overseas to fight for what they saw as their mother country.

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The Revolution Itself

They returned to find a Belize where jobs were becoming even scarcer, land ownership was inaccessible to them, and pay promised was never delivered. Perhaps it was the conditions that they faced in the war or the recognition that nothing would change if they didn’t do anything, but 330 servicemen from British Honduras decided to assert themselves in an act of solidarity against colonial rule. Their inspiration was the Haitian Revolution, in which enslaved people had overthrown their French oppressors and seized control of the land for themselves. Their actions were far less violent but no less pointed. Two groups of veterans marched through the streets of Belize City’s commercial district, destroying the windows of local businesses and targeting wealthy landowners.

But while the image of smashed windows might suggest rampant looting, the veterans were more pointed with their display. They used regimented precision in their acts of vandalism and opted to destroy without looting. Soon, the size of the insurrection grew. The numbers ballooned to ten times their initial size as lower-class citizens from throughout the country — and even disenfranchised black police officers — took to the streets in march to protest the inequity at the heart of British colonialism. Ultimately, 20% of Belize City’s population had taken to the streets, and the political display had escalated into a full-blown riot. The failure of a generator at the city’s electric plant led to a spiral into full-blown looting, and colonial forces arrived in the middle of the night to stop the revolt. The revolution ended with the British arresting leaders and instituting martial law, but it made clear that there was an earnest desire among many Belize citizens for independence.

The Aftermath of the Revolution

One of the major leaders of the 1919 revolt was Samuel Alfred Haynes, who composed the national anthem of Belize in addition to being a poet and a soldier. He would later become a guiding figure in the push towards Belize’s independence. Haynes worked closely with Jamaican black activist Marcus Garvey and served as an important foundational voice in the independence movement that would follow the events of 1919. It would take some time, but 1919’s Black Belizean Revolution could be considered the first shots fired in the country’s war for independence.