3. Bolland, O. Nigel. The Formation of a Colonial Society: Belize, from Conquest to Crown Colony. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1977.
The Formation of a Colonial Society was originally written as a dissertation for the University of Hull in 1975 before being revised and published in 1977. While relatively short for a historical text (240 pages including references), it provides a detailed study of Belizean social and economic history from the initial European settlements to the introduction of official British Crown Colony rule in 1862.
Bolland’s period of interest contains limited source material, even less so than it may have once had considering the natural disasters that have plagued the country and destroyed documents. Nevertheless, he exhibits a mastery of the material available in shaping a coherent history. The text is primarily a social and economic history of the territory that would become Belize between the mid 17th century and 1862. He convincingly explores the concentration of economic power among the white settlers, known as the Baymen, at the end of the 18th century and also how they began to lose that power over the next century. His work is revisionist in that it dispels commonly held myths about Belizean history. For example, he dispels the myth that slavery existed in Belize “in name only” and instead contends that the socio-economic institution of slavery was a harsh reality for the vast majority of its inhabitants, if only slightly milder than other Caribbean nations. In addition, he works to disprove the myth that the territory was unoccupied when the initial Europeans arrived, instead arguing that Maya people inhabited the area.
Few limitations have been leveled against this text; however, it is certainly not perfect. Bolland has been criticized for placing too much emphasis on class as the driving force of social and economic change at the expense of factors such as geo-politics or ethnicity. He has also been chided for not doing more to include policy making in London (or lack thereof) as a historical force in the territory.
The two centuries examined in this text are so far removed from present day Belize that one would be able to read with no prior knowledge of modern day Belize and still understand all or most of what Bolland is attempting to convey. This is not to say that these two centuries have not shaped Belize into what it is today; they most certainly have. However, an understanding of The Formation of a Colonial Society does not rely on a knowledge of modern Belize. Due to the fact that this text concerns a period ending 150 years ago and because of its reliance on primary source material, I recommend against beginning an exploration of Belizean history here. I would recommend, however, that it be considered among the three to five initial texts examined.
About the author: O. Nigel Bolland graduated from the University of Hull with a PhD in Sociology in 1975. He has since served on the faculty of Colgate University in New York as the Charles A. Dana Professor of Sociology and Caribbean Studies. He is currently Professor Emeritus in the Department of Sociology.
Links:
Ohio State University Libraries – The Formation of a Colonial Society
OhioLINK – The Formation of a Colonial Society
1. Thirteen Chapters of a History of Belize by Assad Shoman
2. The Making of Modern Belize by Cedric Grant
3. The Formation of a Colonial Society by O. Nigel Bolland
4. The Economic History of Belize by Barbara Bulmer-Thomas and Victor Bulmer-Thomas
5. Colonialism and Underdevelopment by Norman Ashcraft
6. Decolonizing Development by Joel Wainwright
Further Reading