 The British arrived in the 17 th century  They were mainly Pirates, Buccaneers and Adventurers  There was frequent conflict between the British and the Spanish over the right of the British to settle in Belize and cut logwood.

 Most of the slaves were brought to Belize in the late 18th century from the West Indies  In 1850, African slaves in Belize still identified themselves according to the tribes they came from in Africa.  Throughout the Caribbean, slavery was associated with sugar plantations

 African slaves were the majority of the population before the middle of the 18th century  But in the next 25 years the number of slaves declined from about 3,000 to 2,000, or from about three quarters to less than half of the population.  In Belize, a few settlers owned most of the slaves.

 The Slaves took drastic and dangerous actions, such as suicide, murder, desertion, and revolt to escape from slavery.  There were four recorded revolts and many desertions of slaves in Belize  Even when there was not a revolt the white settlers were scared that one would develop

 Belize lasted as a slave society until 1838  The Act for the Abolition of Slavery was passed in Britain in June 1833.