Belize,_and_English_Speaking_Country

Taking Belize as an example, identify at least one factor or aspect that differentiates it from the historical experiences of Central and South America. One factor that differentiates Belize from Central and South America is its language. Although Belize and Central and South America are at times defined by the legacy of Europeans; whether by Spanish, Portuguese, British, French, or Dutch, the fact remains that the European influence looms larger than the indigenous people or even those who were brought or those who later chose to migrate to Belize, Central and South America. European countries since the 15th century began to conquer and settle the Americas as part of a worldwide process. Explorations were launched in search of more wealth and resources. While Portuguese sailors explored the West, Spanish sailors explored the East. The Pinta, Niña and Santa Maria were the first to land in the Caribbean. Sailed by the Spanish Christopher Columbus in 1492, one of these ships came upon what we know as The Bahamas, although Spanish sailors believed they had reached China and India. This discovery was referred to as “the New World”. Spanish ships to Belize arrived in 1508. Because the new world was discovered by the Spanish, they wanted only Spanish people, Spanish trade, Spanish, religion and Spanish government to control the lands. Spain defended its monopoly by destroying island people and during this process conquered the civilizations on the mainland. In the late 1519 and early 1520 Herman Cortes conquered the Aztec in Mexico. Other expeditions were sent to conquer what is now Guatemala and Honduras. Cortes himself passed though the south-west corner of Toledo district in 1525. The Spanish tried to conquer all of Belize, moving south from Lamanai in New River lagoon and Tipu in the Cayo district, but all attempts on the Maya eventually failed. The Maya fought back. They burnt the churches the Spanish missionaries built and returned to their old belief systems. In the far south, the Chol Maya did the same. Therefore the Maya never had lasting control over the Maya in Belize. They never really settled in Belize. The riches of the New World attracted other European powers; this in turn challenged Spain’s monopoly in the 17th Century. Piracy, smuggling and war were used to take over lands and set up their colonies. In the middle of the 17th century British pirates settled among logwood forests on the coast of Bay of Honduras, later called settlement of Belize Belize was once a British Colony, whose language was English, while Central and South America were colonized by Portugal and Spain with Spanish being their dominant language. The influence of the British on the then British Honduras, has forced Belize to retain English as its main language. And the same is true for countries in Central and South America. The English language has remained dominant in Belize although there have been migration from parts of Central and South American into Belize. Areason for this stay of the English language, for one is that those from Central America had to adapt to their new home Belize. Apart from finding Belize as a country filled with natural resources and a thriving economy, especially being that the population was much smaller and therefore made it less competitive in finding employment; these families engaged their children in an education system based then and still is now on the Colonizer’s model. Therefore with English being taught in school, generations of children adapted to the way the British taught, learned, and communicated. This in effect allowed these migrants to be more Belizean, as they were able to communicate and function in an environment that catered to those who accepted and live in that dominant system. Especially for the first twelve years of education, families did not have any options and still don’t today to educate their children in a different system. It can be concluded that the factor of language alone can differentiate Belize from Central and South America although they were both influenced by Europeans, however by different European countries with both having a very different language to communicate.