Honduras

This country in Central America was settled by the Spanish from the 1520s, with many of the indigenous people killed, enslaved, and made to work in silver mines, or forced to flee. So many of the indigenous people died that the Spanish brought over African slaves, mainly from modern-day Angola, until the mid-17th century.

Honduras was part of several attempts to form a unified Central American country during the 1840s and early 1850s, but these efforts failed, and Honduras went through a period of political instability. However, with foreign business interests keen on land for plantations, it was not long before massive banana plantations were established along the country’s north coast. These plantations were largely owned by Cuyamel Fruit Company, United Fruit Company, and Standard Fruit ...