What is a "Sovereign nation" ?
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What ideas of a ‘sovereign nation’ existed here before the arrival of Europeans to our shores is still being debated. Researchers are still trying to understand how civilizations like the Maya, Taino, Kalinago, Aztec, Incas, and Olmecs defined what a nation meant for them in ancient times. This is attributed not to our indigenous ancestors lacking a clear idea of identity of the state they were included in, but because much of our history was erased and altered by foreign European invaders starting in the 1500s that it is difficult to determine in some cases the details. We can conclude though that when we talk about these civilizations as homogenous [as one] by using a single term such as Maya, it is not referring to all of them considering themselves as one nation state. The Maya civilization over its thousands of years of history at different times was composed of various sovereign nation states, it is only the details to answer the question of how they went about defining what a sovereign nation meant for them that is still being investigated.
In modern times, the characteristics we use to defining what a sovereign nation state means for us can be broken down into the following four main ideas:
Organizations like the United Nation (UN) goes further in saying that all nation states must never intervene in the internal or external affairs of a sovereign nation state unless that state ask them for assistance, also; every group of people that meets the intent to express those characteristics mentioned have the right to self-determination of doing so without outside forces telling them they don’t have the freedom to identify themselves as a sovereign nation state. This is informative in understanding nation states. A major contributor to keeping nation states together and the formation of nation states is when people identify themselves as a community that share agreed upon identities. Flags are a very good example of a symbol people use to identify themselves as a nation [or community]. If these are ways of how we define what a sovereign nation state means today, can you discuss using examples of how the sovereignty of a nation state can be challenged. 
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WHAT would be the opposite of a sovereign nation?
After the arrival of the first Europeans into this side of the world in 1492, other expeditions were launched following their tales of the great potential for access to ‘exotic’ goods. The Spanish were the first Europeans to launch a campaign of slaughter, rape and robbery of our indigenous ancestors and it was all justified in their view by their catholic faith. It is important for us to understand this massacre because it was this that marked the mass taking away of the sovereignty of our indigenous ancestors exercised by their various societies [some going back hundreds of years] and their fight against these expeditions by outside European forces. This period is referred to as the colonial period. Being the opposite of what it was for them to exercise their own sovereignty, what it was was a situation in which the affairs and resources of our indigenous ancestors was controlled by a small group of elites from outside their community, in this case back in Europe. One Uruguayan writer Eduardo Galeano discussion on the issue wrote that colonialism under the Spanish was so life altering for our indigenous ancestors that the Catholic Church controlled so much of their lives that it controlled time itself. |
how did our ancestors resist against foreign invasion and rule?
Early Maya Resistance:
Caktemal, Lamani & Tipu fight for their sovereignty |
Caste War of Yucatan:
Maya uprising to resist colonial rules & slavery |
Black Resistance to enslavement:
The Will & Sharper rebellion & Gales point sovereignty from the British rule |
what was the nature of British colonialism in Belize?
The Belize we know today is predominantly the result of the British occupation of this land and of the resistance and accommodation to it. The presence of the British, in turn, resulted from the coming of Christopher Columbus to the Americas and the subsequent incursions by various European powers. To understand how Belize came to be what it is, therefore, we must place it in the context of this European invasion, especially in the Caribbean Sea. This geographical area includes the islands as well as the coasts of southern Mexico and Central America.
-Assad Shoman - A History of Belize in 13 Chapters- p1
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how did belize make the transition from being a colony to an independent nation?
The context in which Belize struggled for its independence was a struggle fought during a turning point in world and regional politics.
1. The push for independence by various other colonies across the British empire.
2. The promotion for a federation of Caribbean states.
3. The Cold War and the U.S. zero tolerance policies towards socialist and communist regimes that challenged U.S. economic interest.
4. An intensification of territorial claim campaign by the Guatemalan government.
1. The push for independence by various other colonies across the British empire.
2. The promotion for a federation of Caribbean states.
3. The Cold War and the U.S. zero tolerance policies towards socialist and communist regimes that challenged U.S. economic interest.
4. An intensification of territorial claim campaign by the Guatemalan government.
How was independence won?
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What does the Guatemalan claim mean?
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