The last Spanish attack on the British…
September 1798 CE
The last Spanish attack on the British settlement, the Battle of St. George's Caye, occurs two years after the outbreak of war in 1796.
A group of British nationals and African slaves drive off the Spanish force sent from Mexicoi, thwarting Spain's last attempt to control the territory or dislodge other settlers.
Despite treaties banning local government and plantation agriculture, both activities flourish.
The political economy of the British settlement is controlled in the late eighteenth century by an oligarchy of relatively wealthy settlers, who claim about four-fifths of the available land, own about half of all slaves, determine taxation, and control imports, exports, and the wholesale and retail trades.
A group of magistrates, whom they elect from among themselves, has executive as well as judicial functions.
The landowners resists any challenge to their growing political power.