On This Day: In 1642 Abel Tasman spotted the present-day island of Tasmania, calling it Van Diemen’s Land. He landed at today’s Blackman Bay and claimed it for the Dutch. Between 1772 and 1798 only the southeastern portion of the island was visited. Tasmania was not known to be an island until Matthew Flinders and George Bass circumnavigated it in the Norfolk in 1798-99. In 1803, the island was colonized by the British as a penal colony with the name Van Diemens Land, and became part of the British colony of New South Wales. The indigenous people of Tasmania initially welcomed and tried to live in harmony with the new people coming to their island. However, when the British colonized the island for a penal colony, they also introduced disease, which quickly spread through the indigenous population. At the same time, the British colonists started the Black War, which is considered to be one of the earliest recorded modern genocides. Within 30 years of British colonization, almost the entire indigenous population had been killed. On 1 December 1826, the Tasmanian Colonial Times declared that: “We make no pompous display of Philanthropy. We say this unequivocally SELF DEFENCE IS THE FIRST LAW OF NATURE. THE GOVERNMENT MUST REMOVE THE NATIVES – IF NOT, THEY WILL BE HUNTED DOWN LIKE WILD BEASTS, AND DESTROYED!” Despite these horrendous actions, the indigenous people of Tasmania survived and continue to demand their rights to land and self-determination.
Posted on: Sun, 24 Nov 2013 16:49:44 +0000
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