ESW LITERATURE

• Engels
• HBO
• Studiejaar 3

Terra Australis?

For centuries, Europeans speculated about the existence of a vast southern landmass, referred to as "Terra Australis Incognita," meaning "Unknown Southern Land". 

I named it Van Diemen's Land after the governor of Batavia.

Tasmania

No New Holland

The name "New Holland" gradually fell out of use as the British colonial presence grew and the name "Australia" became more prominent

James Cook

• British explorer
•  First voyage (1768–1771)
•  Charted coasts of New Zealand and east coast of Australia
• Claimed for Britain and named New South Wales.

Which island did Abel Tasman discover first?

1. New Zealand
2. Australia
3. Tasmania
4. Van Diemensland

Penal Colonies

160.000 convicts!

Men, Women and children!

William's family!

Ticket of leave

• certain degree of freedom
• rewards good behavior, allowing convicts to work for themselves or for others
• obligations
• not a full pardon

Why did the English create a penal colony in Australia?

1. Guy Fawkes just tried to blow up the Parliament and they wanted to get him as far away as possible
2. They could no longer use the American colonies
3. The prisons in England were full
4. James Cook wanted to live in Botany Bay

European 'visitors' were awed by indigenous land management, creating ‘’The Biggest Estate on Earth’’ (Gammage, 2011).

Colonial thoughts

The European evaluation that the land could be put to better economic use was justification enough in contemporary British politico-legal thought. The status of the Aboriginal Nations was left undefined, opening the door to the legal fiction of ‘terra nullius’ meaning Australia was No Man’s Land before British occupation. Native title was not recognised in law until the Mabo Judgement of 1992.

Stolen generations

• ‘smoothing the pillow of the dying race’ - Daisy Bates
• Assimilation policy which from 1937 involved the systematic removal of light-skinned Aboriginal children to be brought up white – the Stolen Generations.
• Symbolic action - 1997 National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal Children from their Families

Frontier wars

• Ethnic cleansing; protect’ Aborigines on designated reserves and stations run by missionaries
• Native police; convicts army
• SHOOT THEM DEAD; newspaper 1838

In pairs 

Research key words: 

1. Daisy Bates and the Stolen generations
2. Assimilation policy 1937 and symbolic action

2 minutes research + 2 minutes discussion

Stolen generations

smoothing the pillow of the dying race

Symbolic action 21st century

Thoughts?

Why was symbolic action taken for stolen generations?

1. To promote healing and reconciliation
2. To erase historical records
3. To create new laws
4. To acknowledge past injustices and because they felt pressure from the public