Frontier Wars

Question 1

when was the British Invasion of AUS?

Answer 1

it began on the 26th of Jan 1788 with the arrival of the First Fleet in Port Jackson

Question 2

what are frontiers?

Answer 2

this describes the edges of the expanding colonial society where the power of the central colonial authority to protect their settlements were limited which promoted fear towards INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIANS

Question 3

How many deaths caused by the Frontier Wars?

Answer 3

The University of Queensland estimated in a study that there may have been as high as 60,000 deaths in QLD alone

Question 4

Historian Henry Reynolds quotes about the Frontier Wars

Answer 4

he claims that the “Frontier conflict was then one of the most persistant features of Australian life for 140 years” and in a settler’s perspective “there was no perceived need for treated or for negotiations”

Question 5

what was the Frontier Wars according to a Guardian article, ‘The Killing Times’?

Answer 5

“there were at least 270 frontier massacres over 140 years, as part of a state-sanctioned and organised attempt to eradicate Aboriginal people” and it ended as late (without formal repercussions) as 1926

Question 6

what was a common motive for these massacres?

Answer 6

reprisal for the killing of settler civilians but at least 51 massacres were in reprisal for the killing or theft of livestock or property (economic resistance), violent acts of resistance also effectively instilled fear in the European colonists

Question 7

were colonial perpetrators even found guilty for the violence in which they inflicted on IA?

Answer 7

only once in the aftermath of the Myall Creek Massacre in 1838

Question 8

HISTORIAN RICHARD BROOME’S EXAMPLE OF A FRONTIER WAR - MASSACRE?

Answer 8

“The Dharug complained that farms were barriers to the river and their food supply. The dispute soon became deadly. The Dharug crossed the farms or took corn in retaliation [but] settlers fired back on them.”

Question 9

what was the Appin Massacre in New South Wales?

Answer 9

the event was CAUSED by Aboriginal resistance which involved murdering settlers, setting fire to crops and injuring/stealing livestock and this highlights European intolerance of Indigenous resistance to the dispossession of their land + colonisation as Captain James Wallis (other men) CONSEQUENTLY engaged in a night raid, killing indiscriminately, driving people off the gorge and shooting them (official death toll is 14 but likely to have been a lot higher)

Question 10

what was the aftermath/importance of the Appin Massacre?

Answer 10

it occurred from 1816-17 + resulted in no deaths of European colonists as it was the 1st formally sanctioned government event against IA, this type of violence was legalised + military campaigns aimed to punish Indigenous resistance + this Proclamation aimed to restrict the lives/movements of IA and the military action at APPIN coupled with previously unknown diseases caused a mass decline in the Indigenous population

Question 11

what was the Black War of Tasmania?

Answer 11

it occurred between 1824 and 1832, the event effectively showed great INDIGENOUS resistance to European colonisation + the impact of colonisation of the Palawa people who were devastated by the immense violence

Question 12

what caused the Black War?

Answer 12

by the mid 1920s attacks by PALAWA individuals against settlers escalated as sheep graziers pushed into the island’s interior/traditional Palawa lands (dispossession) and increased sexual violence against local Palawa women

Question 13

fact about increase of INDIGENOUS RESISTANCE IN TASMANIA

Answer 13

“Attacks across Tasmania rose from 20 in 1824 to over 259 by 1830”, Historian Lyndall Ryan shares

Question 14

what was the CONSEQUENCE of this Indigenous resistance in TAS?

Answer 14

Lieutenant-Governor George Arthur ordered the formation of the Black Line which was a chain of several thousand men across the settlement districts that continually moved south over weeks in an attempt to forcibly displace the Palawa

Question 15

QUOTES ABOUT THE BLACK LINE

Answer 15

1830 Lieutenant-Governor George Arthur stated “purpose of capturing those hostile tribes of the natives which are daily committing renewed atrocities upon the settlers” and Historian Nick Clements explains that the Black Line involved “2300 soldiers, settlers and convicts in an enormous human wave that lasted three weeks, it cost[ed] the entire annual revenue of the colony and it was a complete disaster.”

Question 16

what was the result of the Black War?

Answer 16

the realisation of European settlers was a failure as Palawa people evaded the Black Line due to their superior knowledge of the land and it acts as a victory at first for the Palawa people but later they too suffered a mass decline in their population as they were forced to assimilate into European culture + imprisoned + abandon their culture

Question 17

was the Black War genocide?

Answer 17

The Black War can be labelled as genocide as it was an attempt to completely eradicate First Nations people from the land as there resistance disrupted the growth of the colony

Question 18

what does historian Lyndall Ryan factually state was the cost of the Black War?

Answer 18

“from 1823 to 1834 was 878 Palawa and 201 settlers killed in the violence” and there was a ratio of 4 to 1 black to white deaths was the lowest of all Australian frontier conflicts, revealing the tenacity of Palawa resistance (Pratt et al.)

Question 19

Differing historian perspective on the Frontier Wars

Answer 19

many disagreements between historians that eventually escalated in the late 20th century as conservatives rejected the pessimistic view of Australian history which involved the British invaders forcibly taking AUS from its original owners + some historians like Keith Windschuttle claimed that the no. of Aboriginal deaths by violence were a mere exaggeration and these “massacre stories..were often invented” but many historians like Richard Broome disagreed with this argument

Question 20

how did the settlement of VIC occur?

Answer 20

In VIC 1835, settlement begins but conflict/war with Aboriginals was almost instant from the beginning, massacre sites are found all over VIC due to IA resistance to dispossession of land, Historian Richard Broome references the high deaths, low birth rate (due to the spread of STDs which
increased infertility issues) and the many deaths due to both disease and war + women endured many
hardships as they were often subjected to sexual violence. despite this, relations were uniquely harmonious in Melbourne but on the expanding frontier of white occupation violent encounters were common

Question 21

issue of language barrier example?

Answer 21

the language barrier furthered the worsening tensions between the 2 parties and allowed for more misunderstanding as in an initial visit to Port Phillip in May 1835, John Batman famously made a ‘treaty’ with the elders of the Kulin nation which the European settlers perceived to involve the purchase of Aboriginal land however the Kulin elders believed that it was an agreement which demonstrated hospitality so that the use of resources could be discussed but the treaty was also disallowed by NSW government because all AUS land was said to belong to the Crown

Question 22

what was the Myall Creek Massacre?

Answer 22

event acts as an important example of the violence that was inflicted upon IA and occurred in NSW

Question 23

what CAUSED the Myall Creek Massacre?

Answer 23

many squatters establishing sheep + cattle stations outside the official boundary of the colony causing further dispossession of Indigenous land + sexual violence of Gamilaraay women causing the Gamilaraay to hunt their sheep for food

Question 24

what was the CONSEQUENCE of the Indigenous retaliation in Myall Creek?

Answer 24

on the 9th of June 1838, 10 Gamilaraay men left to work at an adjoining station of William Foster (leaving old men, women + children at Myall Creek) so on the following day a group of stockman who wanted revenge for the death of sheep/cattle arrived at the Myall Creek Station, rounded up everyone, massacred about 28 with swords and pistols, burnt their bodies and then returned days later to cover up their crime

Question 25

what was the unique result of the Myall Creek Massacre?

Answer 25

the event was reported by William Foster, investigated by a magistrate Edward Day and then the new Governor of NSW Sir George Gipps immediately ordered the arrest of the 11 men involved (10 were convicts) and the 2nd trial ended with 7 of the 11 perpetuators being found guilt + hanged for the crimes

Question 26

what was a key reason for the frontier wars?

Answer 26

the concept of colonialism as the British authorities declared AUS to be terra nullius which ignored the deep connection the Indigenous people possessed with the land and emphasised this belief that the First Australians had no inherent right to the land and was used to justify the dispossession of land + violence towards these First Nations groups

Question 27

what was the position of British colonists around the time of settlement?

Answer 27

using force was necessary force to establish control of the land and to allow pastoralists to transform the landscape and protect what they considered to be their property

Question 28

what was the main differing economic ideology between the 2 parties?

Answer 28

European settlers were governed by capitalism therefore they regarded the land as property which could provide goods for them to use and export, this ideology clashed with the Indigenous ideas of reciprocity and they shared nature of resources that came from Country

Question 29

how did Indigenous Australians utilise economic warfare?

Answer 29

Indigenous Australians attacked possible sources of income and stole the goods which the European settlers relied on

Question 30

what was the conflict between colonial and Indigenous peoples driven by?

Answer 30

conflicting ideas about land ownership and resource use which was increased by the fear of attacks from First Nations peoples in retaliation for the colonial frontier expansion

Question 31

how did Indigenous Australians eventually adapt to the European presence?

Answer 31

by learning English, learning to use guns (which shows the building of trust and the handing of authority), value European dogs and liking tea and tobacco, were forced to be involved in the European capitalist economy through labour in stations/ messengers/guides whilst attempting to preserve their culture/ connection to land

Question 32

what were the continuities of the Frontier Wars?

Answer 32

the spread of colonial control being consistent and unrelenting and that First Australian peoples retain a deep connection to land and country.

Question 33

what were the changes of the Frontier Wars?

Answer 33

First Australian peoples losing control of traditional lands and country, colonial land use was different to traditional land use and that European conceptions of land ownership were fundamentally different from the relationship to land of the First Australians