by Francis Vernon
Thursday, September 7, 2023
10 score and 5 years ago, our forefathers and mothers fought for freedom from the constant depredations of Spain in one form or another, by treaty or by force. Our ancestors were murdered and taken as slaves to work to death in Mexico mining silver, or as colonial slaves they cut, haul and chip and square-off logs. Mahogany was worth its weight in gold.
Many treaties were made between England and Spain as to the rights to cutting hardwoods along the banks of the Wallace River (the old maps will bear me out as to the various ways Wallace was written by the Spaniards, such as Vallis, Ballis, Valis, Balis, never Belize, a latter-day invention to hide our history right before our eyes. But as Shakespeare said, a rose (Jewel) by any other name is still a rose or (Jewel).
What have been called battles in the settlement such as Laboring Creek and numerous others, were actual wars fought by our forefathers, for survival. We were the engine that made this whole economy work, the work along the various banks on the Wallace River of their owners. Slave gangs were bought from Jamaica to work the woods, a job their masters could not do; but they would leave for home after making their fortunes. There was NO home for the slaves to go back to; the Scottish settlement in the Bay was home, period.
Back in 1765, King George the third of England sent Sir William Burnaby, Admiral of the Red Squadron, to see if the subjects were in full possession of their rights as per treaty and were not being harassed by the Spaniards. He found the settlement at peace, so, along with his captains, including one Captain Cook, later to be the famous Captain Cook who later would circumnavigate the world, WE, the judges and magistrates asked him to codify a set of laws we were living by for years. He agreed, and wrote Burnaby’s Code, the first English Constitution in the New World.
When he put pen to paper, he was anchored off our capital Ciao Cosina. He asked us, how do we spell Cosina, with a C or with a K? In the King’s name (George the Third) he gave us the rights to our ancient uses and customs, Public Meeting, granting us ADULT SUFFRAGE. ADULT SUFFRAGE whereby the FLOWERS BANK 14 COULD VOTE LEGALLY when they voted on that fateful day at the mouth of the Wallace River to stay and fight for freedom. For they were free negroes, freed by their master William Flowers, resident of Black River in Nicaragua. When he returned to England, these free negroes who came to the settlement as a part of the 1786 Treaty, they bought land along the Wallace River, which still bears their name – Flowers Bank, owners of a mahogany work – BLACK MEN!! In other words, (a black) Negro Works. Yes, as unbelievable as it sounds (BLACK Works), as Qualified Voters they changed the course of history by casting the deciding votes to stay and fight, breaking a tie, 51 to 51.
The masters – owners who had made their fortunes, voted to leave, those who had not wanted to stay… The majority (Negroes) had no place to return to; they were at home… England and Spain were at war since 1796. When our crisis came in 1797, we were not, say, a priority; as we petitioned Governor Balcarres in Jamaica for help, he basically said that he had bigger fish to fry. We had to arm ourselves as best as we could: 9-pound cannons in the prow of our converted sloops, the likes of the Teaser, the Swinger, the Tickler, the Towzer and the Mermaid, along with 14 rafts, each with a 9-pounder in their prows, manned by agile, fit and powerful arms who poled us into history, victory on September 10th 1798.
The ownership of the land from the Rio Hondo to the Sarst^un would never be questioned again. Since Sept. 10th 1798 it has been held under a different title, ours – “The pork and dough boys”. It was no longer claimed by Spain or by England, but it was the first negro {Black} nation in the New World 9/10/1798. We negroes (Black and others) fought for the right to exist. We made in Central America the first country which has been speaking English for 225 years {Creole} as our native tongue… Our forefathers “WE” became Independent in 1798, our Independence Day. All the other nations in Central America gained their Independence in the 1800’s. We blazed a trail, bold footsteps for others to follow.
Our Independence Day Sept. 10th 1798 CANNOT be CHANGED BY NO ONE. Every country’s Independence Day celebrates their history of becoming a free nation. ‘’THE 21ST OF SEPTEMBER IS AN ARTIFICIAL HEAD WITHOUT A BODY.” NOW as we celebrate the 225th anniversary of our TRUE INDEPENDENCE DAY, with a Tribute to our long-forgotten heroes who fought for their children, who were yet to come – YOU and ME – they sacrificed their lives for our own Black men and women, today’s boys and girls. We owe a great deal of gratitude to our ancestors, more than 4,000 strong, the majority of the settlement, most of whom were Black, with a few Europeans who were so thankful that the slaves and sons of slaves, freemen by birth who fought to defend their home. Colonel Barrow was sent to help us, but with no troops. One week before the war, a little gun brig with 20 cannons came to our assistance; by this time the odds were 32 Spanish on their way to 1 English ship, the Merlin. The day was carried by the sloops and rafts manned by Baymen, Black Baymen. Our defence was genius, our strategy brilliant, our victory overwhelming; title to our land was ours.
For many years after the war at Ciao Cosina, our victory was celebrated on the caye the 9th and the 10th. (There was no Battle at St. George’s Caye.) It was a war at Ciao Cosina, and we negroes won hands down… King Charles the 4th of Spain acquiesced to the fact, saying the same way Spain gained their possessions was by conquest, so was the settlement won by conquest. Spain no longer contested our ownership.
We must be proud and lift up our heads to honor our heroes on this the 225th anniversary of that war. Since that time (with our title secure) our borders never changed. We were a settlement, a nation in our own right. First a settlement, then a nation, a colony, then back to a nation again. Through all these transitions, our borders and the people have never changed and never will, from Rio Hondo to Rio Sarstun, with all insular cayes included.
On November 2nd 1819 (23 years after our victory) at the annual Public Meeting, we prayed for and resolved our Seal of Arms to forever be enshrined into the eyes of man (we are for real.). This Seal, with 2 Black men on it, [which] was lodged on the 15th Day of March (a Thursday) with the Keeper of the Records, George Westby, was used on all newspapers and official correspondences and in general use into the 1950’s, when we began to lose our bearings.
202 years ago, we became official, for it must have [been] a long fight for the survivors of the war to get the actual heroes’ pictures placed for posterity on a Seal which is still with us 205 years later. For these many years we as a people, a proud people, who were lied to, oppressed by slavery, oppressed by colonialism, oppressed by politics, lied to [about] Universal Adult Suffrage (we had to get it twice, 1765 and 1954). Our lives were manipulated through trickery. We have returned though battered and bruised, a Black nation, 1st of its kind in the Americas.
With resolve after losing the Battle for Ciao Cosina in 1779, we vowed revenge so that would never happen again. So, 19 years later we did not forget the atrocities suffered at the hands of the Spaniards. Our WAR Cry was Fingarica or Yarbrough! Dungeon or Death! With our backs against the wall, we prevailed, coming through with flying colours. White-Red-Blue, with our Seal in the middle passed on to us from our ancestors, two Black men. Can you imagine that, in the middle of slavery? How awesome, being honored for acts of bravery! As you cannot choose your birth mother, you can’t change our Seal (or fate, for it was prayed for).
Our heroes were Black, like it or not. The White men were few – just look at me and you, many of whom were so thankful for us, as we fought together side by side. We were both filled with fear, and then with pride. They didn’t know if they would see the 11th sunrise, but they did, as they WILLed to us, this Bejeweled prize!