HIST106 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Joseph Gellibrand, Keith Windschuttle, Geoffrey Blainey
HIST106 Lecture Notes Monday 14th August 2017
The Myth of Peaceful Settlement
Todas letue
- Argument: the land was not discovered, but forcibly taken
- Rejecting the arguments that Australia was peacefully settled through addressing
three main questions:
o What ideas ostitute the peaeful settleet aatie?
o What are the arguments against this narrative, and why are they persuasive?
o How, and why, has this question been (and continues to be) contested?
True or false?
- Captain cook invaded Australia on January 26, 1788 – false
- The Bitish goeet istuted oloises to ake a teat ith the aties –
true
- Before Europeans arrived, Indigenous peoples lived in harmony with a pristine
Australian wilderness – false. They cultivated it and used it for their own needs.
- Recent histories revealing the violence of British colonisation have broken 200+
years of silence and denial – false
- Colonial frontier massacres were illegal and happened in secret – true
Some Key Terms
- Terra Nullius
o Latin ter eaig oods lad
o Probably dates to the 17th century.
o Used to mean a land that was literally uninhabited
- Terra Australis
o Lati te eaig southe lad
o Used to describe a hypothetical continent
o Dates to the 5th century although the idea itself possibly began with Aristotle
- Aboriginal/e
o Lati te eaig oigial ihaitats, fo a oigie, eaig fo
the egiig
o Originally used in antiquity, referring to peoples from Italy or Greece
- Indigenous
o Latin te, fo idigea eaig atie
o Also dates to the 17th century
What is the peaceful settlement myth?
- It either ignores Indigenous Australians, or it depends on a few key ideas:
o Indigenous Australians were primitive peoples without a history and without
a legitimate claim to own the land
▪ Cultivation was the only thing seen as a claim to the land
▪ Also, non-agrarian was seen as no claim
o The British colonisers did not embark on a war of conquest
▪ However, e shouldt ie the oloisatio of Austalia as a single
event
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
o Indigenous peoples and cultures declined naturally, (e.g. through disease and
assimilation) as white settlement expanded
▪ Ofte liked ith the dooed ae theo – the idea the lower race
will die out when in competition with a superior race
o The British state took Indigenous Australians under its protection as citizens:
therefore, any violence was not warfare but legitimate policing provoked by
aboriginal attacks
▪ Aka the argument from citizenship. Indigenous Australians did not
agree to become citizens
o Although colonisation had some tragic effects, the British had benign
itetios i Austalia ad eet as ad as othe ipeial poes
▪ There are many historians who would dismiss this idea today
o In the long run, Indigenous peoples benefited fo hite iilisatio
o What happened was seen as peaceful settlement at the time; we should not
impose modern views on it
▪ This idea is worth respecting. We should base our views on critical
thinking
o It depends on not seeing indigenous peoples as equals
Why a peaceful settlement narrative?
- A few reasons
o Need for a positive (white) founding story of Australian nationhood
o ANZAC myth overshadows other conflicts
o Eduig poe of tea ullius tasfoed ito deial ad fogettig
▪ The great Australian silence theory
o Eduig poe of dooed ae theoies
o White Australians have dominated the telling of history; settlement narrative
still appeals to some conservative white Australians.
o Australia is not unique in forgetting unpleasant parts of its history or having
history wars
A Once-Visible History
- As late as , the te a is eig used to desie lak esistae
- John Oxley (1895) refers not only to violence, but to the idea of conquest, therefore
contesting the idea of peaceful settlement
- e hae ee aggessos e as i the hite settles ad a of eteiatio
(Joseph Gellibrand, 1840) both used by people in the 19th etu. Doest suppot
the idea of peaceful settlement.
Debunking the Myth: Contact Zones
- Related to the myth of peaceful settlement is a myth that Indigenous Australians
ee a uiuel passie ad iuious people ‘eolds ho eated to Euopea
aials ith al apath Blaie, uoted i ‘eolds
- Sympathetic portrayals of Indigenous Australians often cast them as unresisting
helpless victims
- The historical record reveals a more complex history
Debunking the Myth: Frontier Wars and Massacres
- Frontier wars and massacres are the clearest evidence against the idea of peaceful
settlement
- Legal or not, frontier massacres continued with casualties on both sides
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Argument: the land was not discovered, but forcibly taken. Captain cook invaded australia on january 26, 1788 false. The b(cid:396)itish go(cid:448)e(cid:396)(cid:374)(cid:373)e(cid:374)t i(cid:374)st(cid:396)u(cid:272)ted (cid:272)olo(cid:374)ise(cid:396)s to (cid:373)ake a t(cid:396)eat(cid:455) (cid:449)ith the (cid:862)(cid:374)ati(cid:448)es(cid:863) true. Before europeans arrived, indigenous peoples lived in harmony with a pristine. They cultivated it and used it for their own needs. Recent histories revealing the violence of british colonisation have broken 200+ years of silence and denial false. Colonial frontier massacres were illegal and happened in secret true. Terra nullius: latin ter(cid:373) (cid:373)ea(cid:374)i(cid:374)g (cid:862)(cid:374)o(cid:271)od(cid:455)(cid:859)s la(cid:374)d(cid:863, probably dates to the 17th century, used to mean a land that was literally uninhabited. Terra australis: lati(cid:374) te(cid:396)(cid:373) (cid:373)ea(cid:374)i(cid:374)g (cid:862)southe(cid:396)(cid:374) la(cid:374)d(cid:863, used to describe a hypothetical continent, dates to the 5th century although the idea itself possibly began with aristotle. Aboriginal/e: lati(cid:374) te(cid:396)(cid:373) (cid:373)ea(cid:374)i(cid:374)g (cid:862)o(cid:396)igi(cid:374)al i(cid:374)ha(cid:271)ita(cid:374)ts, f(cid:396)o(cid:373) (cid:862)a(cid:271) o(cid:396)igi(cid:374)e(cid:863), (cid:373)ea(cid:374)i(cid:374)g (cid:862)f(cid:396)o(cid:373) the (cid:271)egi(cid:374)(cid:374)i(cid:374)g(cid:863, originally used in antiquity, referring to peoples from italy or greece.
