Poster Issued during the Black War
The
Black War refers to a period of conflict between the
British colonists and
Aborigines in
Van Diemen's Land (now
Tasmania) in the early years of the 1800s. The conflict has gained a notorious reputation as a
genocide resulting in the almost complete obliteration of the Aboriginal population, though there are presently individuals with degrees of Aboriginal background.
Because this war was never officially declared, the years given for the conflict vary. Some date the conflict to the very beginning of European settlement on the island in 1803. However, the conflict was most intense during the 1820s, which is the period most commonly referred to as the Black War. The conflict is generally seen to have ended in the 1830s, after the unsuccessful Black Line and the subsequent relocation of Aborigines to Flinders Island.
This conflict was recently the subject of some controversy among historians in Australia, with the publication in 2002 of The Fabrication of Aboriginal History, Volume One: Van Diemen's Land 1803-1847 by Keith Windschuttle, which called into question the integrity of other historians regarding the actual number of Aborigines killed. In turn, the integrity of Windschuttle's own research has been questioned. Both sides accuse the other of having ideological motivations. Windschuttle claims the number killed has been greatly inflated and that accounts of torture and abuse are either exaggerated or fabricated. Critics accuse Windschuttle of racism and sloppy research.
The place of the Windschuttle debate within wider debates about Australian historiography is explored at Black arm band theory of history.
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