Morant and Handcock as Murderers or Scapegoats of the Empire Essay

The convicts did not follow this conduct and most believed that the Australian natives were ‘barely human’ (MacDougall .A.K 2004). The population ratio of British settlers in Australia to the natives, drastically altered over the century in the result of rapid colonisation and the conflicts which the Commonwealth of Australia Official Year Books explicitly depicts. The British settlers came in masses bringing a new society and culture to the land. The indigenous people were not familiar with an individual possession society and believed that the stock on the land was to be hunted and used as a food source. This is epitomised in a letter sent to the editor of The Sydney Monitor and Commercial Advertiser by Daniel Eaton in 1838, stating that ‘five horses [were] killed, and four others were wounded… a hundred head of cattle killed and the flocks and herds were driven away in all directions by the blacks’ (Convict Creations, 2013). Newspapers from the time showed that the British reacted to the natives by killing them off the land and believed that the ‘Natives should be slaughtered…[because] they are baboons, blood thirsty dogs and black animals’ (Stewart D,1986). The British were not interested in negotiating with the natives of the land and believed their culture was inhuman wasting the land. Governor Gawler stated in a newspaper article, ‘Black men- we wish to make you happy, but you cannot be

35 peaceful Aborigines were camped near the Myall Creek cattle station when most of them were slaughtered. For the first – and only – time in Australian history, the white gang was arrested and 7 of them were charged with the murder of Aborigines, and hanged.

Japan had many ways of treating and controlling their australian prisoners of war one of the most common physical punishment given was when POW’s had failed to acknowledge or salute a japanese soldier or officer. In result of this prisoners would suffer face-slapping, often done with a hard instrument, such as a bamboo stick or a shovel. This result of punishment was done by the japanese guards in order not to lose respect from the prisoners. Another punishment that was given to Australian prisoners of war were that they had to hold heavy stones above their heads for many hours. In result of this punishment the australian prisoners suffered and with this punishment had resulted in death. Lastly a severe type of physical punishment given was prisoners having to kneel on a piece of bamboo for a number of days. POW’s that suffered through this physical punishment were left with scars, it so hard to imagine what it felt like but Tom Uren had described how a young Aboriginal soldier was made to kneel on a piece of bamboo for a number of days. The bamboo cut into him, causing gangrene and the eventual loss of his

In 1788 the colonists had to follow Governor Phillip’s instructions, which declared that “the Aboriginals were to be protected and friendly relations were encouraged.” Phillip had to follow and pass on these instructions as they were given to him in the document labelled today as the ‘Draught Instructions for Governor Phillip,’ which can be seen in Source 2. However, as the British began to settle they cleared the land and fenced waterholes. They showed no respect for sacred sites and broke laws the Indigenous people had followed for many ages. The Europeans did not understand their way of life but as they gained knowledge they continued taking land and breaking indigenous laws. Slowly more encounters between Europeans and Aboriginal people occurred. In May, 1788, two convicts were found dead in Rushcutters Bay, killed by Aborigines. In Source 1, the proclamation to the Aboriginal people can be seen. It gives an example of how the British were still planning to treat the Aboriginal people equally, if they obeyed the law. However, it stated that the law was for the Aboriginal people to live in the European ways, which took away their own traditional customs. This illustrates conflict that arose, but peace was still trying to be made through positive relationships between

This demonstrates a severe power imbalance between classes in this society. The highest being the Whites and the lowest being the Indians. In order for the Aboriginals to make a clear statement that they would no longer put up with abuse, they would misbehave. This is evident in the murder of William Robinson and the two other murders of Black citizens that occurred within a span of less than two years in Salt Spring Island. The Indians were showing the members of Salt Spring Island that they had had enough. By retaliating through crime, the Indians were trying to take back their power, their land, and provide a message to all members of the society that they would not be treated as a nuisance any longer just because of their race and ethnicity. Although, I do not agree with revenge it seems as though it was the only possible way for the Aboriginals to have their voice heard in this close-minded group. To put in another way, committing murder was a way for Indians like Tom to escape racism, constraints, and classism one step at a

Example 2 : Another Australian, Gunner J.R. Armitage saw a man in the distance who was letting out painful moans. The wounded solider moved on his hands and knees in struggle to reach to Gunner J.R. Armitage. The wounded told him not to shoot him painfully. The wounded soldier was missing one leg so the Australian helped him by trying to reassure him but he was eventually killed by the Germans themselves.

Going back 100 years the soldiers were in Gallipoli, when they were withdrawn from there they were moved to the Western Front. Fromelles was the first major battle the Australians were engaged in. It was meant to be a diversionary attack on 19th July 1916. One of the Generals, Pompey Elliott, begged them not to do it. The Germans were well entrenched, they knew what was going on. They had tried a similar thing earlier and it didn’t work. The Australians didn’t even have hard hats; some of them went into battle wearing their slouch hats. One of the generals insisted on going into battle as they wanted to make sure the Germans wouldn’t move any of their troops further south as they were about to engage in the Battle of the Somme. In the tradition of WW1 they went ahead, there were 5,533 causalities, of which 1,917 were dead. The whole of the Gallipoli campaign took months, this was in one night. Some of the stories of this battlefield are horrendous. David heard one story about a soldier who offered himself as a stretcher so they could lay another soldier on top of him to drag him back to No Man ‘Land. The whole time his body was being ripped apart by the shrapnel, he didn’t say a word. The Germans offered a cease fire to recover the dead and wounded, when that started one of our own general said, ’No, that’s not approved.’ Approximately 60 Australians died trying to recover the wounded from No Man’s Land. The battle of Frolmelles is certainly one of our darkest periods of time. There is a place called the VC Corner cemetery as they thought that so many VC’s would be awarded, in fact David thinks there was one. One of the battles that had the most VC’s awarded was the Battle of Mont St Quentin, another battle that many have never heard of, it was one of our greatest victories under General

McClellan's soldiers had found the sniping worrisome enough, but even more disturbing was the disclosure that the slain enemy marksman had been a Negro. Tales of the deadly "darky sharpshooter" spread throughout the Union camp, and the daring black's exploits were later recorded in the postwar regimental history of the 1st U.S. Sharpshooters. To men who had been raised on the fulminations of William Lloyd Garrison and uncle Tom's Cabin, it seemed incomprehensible that any black man could willingly serve the Confederacy. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ A British observer, Lt. Col. Arthur J. Fremantle of the Coldstream Guards, noted in his diary that he observed an armed black man leading a Union

Alma Budovic Final Paper Part 1 HST-111-22 5/1/2015 In his piece “The Tools of Empire”, Daniel Headrick explores and analyzes the way that technological innovations led European countries to colonize countries in Asia, by providing the means for them to do so. He aims to ''analyze the technological changes that made imperialism happen, both as they enabled motives to produce events, and as they enhanced the motives themselves’’_ He uses Great Britain and China as an example throughout the first two chapters of his piece to demonstrate how these innovations led to British imperialism in China. Technological innovations such as the steamboat provided the both the means and motives for British imperialism in China. Technological innovations gave Great Britain an advantage, by allowing them to conquer China.

“Boy oh boy did I passionately hate that man right now”: I thought to myself. How dare Jack ever in a million years betray his own country to join those primitive, cruel, Japanese solders? Jack ordered all of us to stand up, form ranks, and prepare to march off the boats to our new prison. Jumping from the top of the platform, Jack landed with a loud thud, and proceeded to lead our small group of twelve to the prison. Every so often my wondering eye couldn’t help, but notice that certain bushes moved awkwardly, and it seemed to me that someone had taken it upon himself or herself to follow us secretly. The notion quickly left my head upon our abrupt stop where jack decided to have a little fun and call me out. “Ralph, oh Ralph come here my good boy lets play a little hunting game”: He exclaimed. He raised a double-edged sword, and wagged it in my face almost slicing my head in the process. Terrified, I punched him in the gut, and jumped on him. The other guards encircled me, and jabbed me with the butt of the ak-47’s they carried. Finally I relented and fell off of Jack, and while recovering he stood up, whipped his pistol out, and pointed it at me. He said:” Under Imperial law you have been sentenced to die for striking an

Information in the court documents indicate that Mulrunji became agitated after being arrested, becoming violent once arriving at the police station and subsequently assaulting Senior Sergeant Hurley while being taken from the paddy wagon into the police station. Senior Sergeant Hurley’s discretionary decision to arrest Mulrunji for a public nuisance offence had dire consequences resulting in a violent altercation and a subsequent death. It is an unfortunate reality that Indigenous Australians are over-represented in our criminal justice system and are being arrested at disproportionate rates compared to non-Indigenous

They were beaten and deprived of food, not given access to the most basic infrastructure e.g. bathing and an appropriate way to pass waste. The Geneva conventions that the Japanese army had agreed upon condemned any act of violence toward P.O.W’s. Japan broke other guidelines too including; being deprived of money or other valuables without a receipt and guarantee that they will be returned when they are released, and also being held in confined spaces. Sever beatings were also very common The Australian surgeon Lieutenant-Colonel E.E. (‘Weary’) Dunlop recounts “blows with a fist, hammering over the face and head with wooden clogs, repeatedly thrown to the ground.” This evidence is corroborated by well-known BBC correspondent David Powers who writes in his report that a common punishment was that the prisoners would be forced into a tiny cell with no food or water. After the war the war crimes that the Japanese army had committed became apparent, when the Japanese army was put on trial for their crimes they justified it through the warrior ideology - called Bushido - that had been in use in their country since the warring state

Grievance is satisfied by ceremonies with gift giving that can extend to corporal punishment or ritual killing in response to having perpetrated a murder or stolen someone’s wife (Finnane, 2001, p. 295-296). ‘Payback’ was noted in some Aborigine groups from the late 18th century but cannot be given a place today in its violation of several laws including human rights standards. The court and its assignees are to punish an offender, not angry Aborigines. Customary law among various Aborigine groups does involve corporal punishment that is indeed criminal in the thinking of Australian law in what can be severe physical abuse that can deter future offences. Of course, well publicized events have shown that incarceration does not suit numbers of Aborigines whose mental health -- and lives -- can be threatened by gaol time that does not affect most non-Aborigines similarly. North American jurisdictions can also show a reluctance to place Native offenders in prison or to limit timeserving in favour of community sentencing.

The Japanese brutality was heavily influenced by bushido, a historic code of honour and morals that dictates how you act and live. The Japanese treated the Australian soldiers the way they did because their code tells them that those who surrender are weak and do not deserve your thoughts, and it is considered an unspeakable disgrace. Although the Japanese Imperial military committed to follow the samurai code of bushido after the restoration of the emperor in 1868, the code that they followed was a falsification of bushido. For the Japanese soldiers, bushido meant giving their life to the emperor; surrender was shameful; those who surrendered were thought of as dead; and sympathy for the defeated was weakness. No sympathy for the defeated was definitely not a part of the traditional bushido, the one practised by the samurai. This

that the settlers, who were uninvolved in the conflict, were in danger and fear for their lives from the attacks and it has been necessary to introduce the ability to take any action necessary to stop it. There is also mention of attacks on black women in the reasons for implementation, although it does not advise who the perpetrators of the attacks were. The document goes on to advise that cruelty towards those being brought to order under the decree was deemed unnecessary and women and children were to