Tasmania
Tasmania is an island state of Australia, its original inhabitants are the “palawa”
an Indigenous group that have been situated on the island for over 10,000 years. Abel
Tasman was the first European to arrive in Tasmania in
1642, followed by
Captain Cook in
1777. The first permanent European settlement was located on the eastern bank of the River
Derwent and established in
1803.
In 1804, the first unprovoked attack on Tasmanian peoples began what was known as the “Black
War.” In the “Black War,” white settlers mistreated the Indigenous Peoples, seeing
them as subhuman, depleted their food supply, attacked the women, and killed the men.
The Indigenous Peoples were later removed to live on Flinders Islands until they were
able to return in 1847. During the “Black War,” the Indigenous Peoples in Tasmania died from settler violence
and settler-brought diseases.
Tasmania is also known for its penal system, the first penal settlement was founded
in 1822. In the early 19th century, many convicts were sent to Tasmania; however, this transportation
of convicts ended in 1852. The last person to be hanged in Tasmania was Margaret Coghlan in 1862.
During the 19th century, Tasmania also saw a development in its whaling industry and
a growth in the amount of seal hunters on the island. In the 1870s tin was discovered
in Tasmania and by the 1890s, copper mining began. In the same year, the University
of Tasmania was founded.