Australia: How A British Prison Colony Became A Nation | Death Or Liberty | Timeline

hi everybody welcome to this timeline documentary my name is dan snow and here i am in a lancaster bomber cockpit one of the few remaining lancasters from the second world war to tell you about my new history channel it's called history hit it's like netflix for history hundreds of history documentaries on there and interviews with many of the world's best historians follow the information below this film or just search online for history hit and make sure you use the code timeline to get a special introductory offer now enjoy this show at the dawn of the 19th century britain has the largest empire in history across this vast realm millions live in poverty and starvation denied the most basic human rights but a spirit of angry revolution is in the air [Music] and those who challenge the government are exiled to a prison colony on the far side of the globe over the next 80 years 3600 political prisoners are sent to the empire's guantanamo bay australia the british government believes that distance will bring silence but instead rebel voices return to haunt them irish welsh english american canadian maori west indians they do not go quietly in their alien new land they continue the struggle for justice their actions in their home countries are well known but their stories in australia have been forgotten in hobart tasmania billy bragg mick thomas and lisa o'neil come together for a concert that will bring to life the forgotten stories of the empire's rebels and how they inspired the creation of modern democracy in australia decades before britain [Music] shine don't you speak my name impossible no my memory defends in this world everlasting saviorful disdain for them for the ones who built these prisons for the ones who built these walls [Music] walls of time walls of distance to never hear me call across the years across the ocean to a land justice forgot out of time out of luck [Music] the year is 1793 the world is in turmoil at a time when kings and emperors rule with an iron fist change is in the air in america the british king has been kicked out by democratic revolutionaries who create a new form of government for the people by the people in france the king loses his head and a republic is declared both events shake britain to its core the country is racked by radical descent and her swelling cities are engulfed in a wave of crime the crown responds by seizing the east coast of australia and van diemen's land dispossessing the indigenous population and setting up the most feared prisons in the empire you've got to remember that when the penal colony was founded great britain as a political entity wasn't even 100 years old the union of the parliaments in 1707 created something new something corporate but people's allegiances remain to the countries of their birth to england to scotland to ireland and to wales the irish in particular refused to embrace the idea of great britain instead they look to europe for inspiration for centuries ireland has been under the yoke of british rule however the new wave of idealism sweeping the globe gives hope for change in ireland the american revolution in the 1770s led to a series of attempts to reform the system of election in the irish parliament and then later on the french revolution the french revolution had a major impact on radical opinion or reforming opinion in ireland now both revolutions bring a new vocabulary of of democracy and liberty a much more open and more modern recognizably democratic way of thinking and the united irishmen were specifically really set up as a result of the french revolution the united irishmen bring together protestants and catholics who want to change the political system their aim is to create a more democratic country through peaceful protest but the british respond to their demands with an iron fist the main reason that the united irishmen moved into open rebellion into physical force was that their original attempt to achieve change through political means failed in 1798 a ragtag rebel army of 20 000 farmers and laborers makes a stand for freedom against a better armed and trained british army at vinegar hill in county wexford [Music] the bloody battle that took place here will be forever etched into the irish psyche [Music] this is [Music] [Music] this song [Music] if that 1798 rebellion having been embarked upon had succeeded and had it gone the way of the us revolution and the influence of ireland and europe as a liberal democratic country uh would have been considerable my agent was standing by my aged father did me tonight the name he gave me was the clubby boy [Music] british army prevail and that revolution is put down but it's not just put down there are savage reprisals there are mobile gallows at one stage so many people are executed and killed [Music] the route at vinegar hill doesn't mark the end for the united irishmen the rebellion goes underground one hot spot was in county tipperary near the town of clan mel where a small band of guerrilla fighters are harassing the british at every turn they are led by a stone mason called philip cunningham little is known about his life before 1798 but he is a natural leader of men all right [Music] cunningham is on borrowed time betrayed by an informer he is captured in late 1799 and sentenced to death but the killing has to stop his sentence is commuted to transportation he is exiled to australia leaving his family behind he would never see them again [Music] by the time he leaves ireland there are already 460 united irish convicts in the colony [Music] being transported in the late 18th century across oceans to a place called botany bay would put terror into the hearts of the people to be punished but also their families so in a sense it was the british government trying to quiet down the countryside but it didn't in sydney the english governor is alarmed at the imminent arrival of more irish rebels the and brings 137 of the most desperate and diabolical characters that could be selected from that cursed nation this means that those who avow a determination to lose sight of what it is they are bound to as united irishmen now number 600 and they are ready and waiting an opportunity to put their glam into action dispatch it [Music] governor king is right to be worried just off the coast of south america cunningham and the other united irish prisoners attempt to take over their prisonship by force philip cunningham you've been sentenced to 100 lashes for making mutiny against his majesty's ship have you anything to say for yourself i do not recognize your crown or your authority wilson proceed [Music] aaron gabriel [Music] uh [Music] it's possible that british misjudged the impact which the united irishmen could have in australia and to a certain extent the um authorities in britain and ireland who are getting rid of the united irishmen it's no longer their problem when they go to australia it's somebody else's problem when cunningham arrives in sydney the entire european population of the colony is just over 5000 people militant and angry irish rebels now comprise around 12 percent of all colonists when the iris stepped ashore in sydney they were confronted by an alien landscape strange trees heat insects they'd never seen and it was the other side of the world many of them didn't even know geographically where they were it's like being sent to the dark side of the moon and and very quickly found that they were part of a machine if you like a machine that was akin in some ways to slavery another problem that would have confronted the irish prisoners is that they're clearly in the thrall of an english colony come on man and that means that the language that they speak many of them speak gaelic their overseers are mainly english people so the ascendancy the english ascendancy the protestant ascendancy they knew back in ireland confronted them again the convicts sent to new south wales in the early 1800s are part of a cruel system where the slightest infringement results in a flogging and the irish are flogged more than most what inspired them to start was to free their native land of ireland from what they saw as an invader that inspiration that desire didn't go away just because they were somewhere else they were simply in a prison which was far away and all they wanted to do was to escape from that prison and get back and finish the job they had started in 1804 a ship brings news from ireland united irish leader robert emmett has been hanged drawn and quartered in the streets of dublin on the 4th of march cunningham and his men decide the time has come to overthrow their jailers and return home this is the day we finish what we started at vinegar hill i want you all to think of robert emmett as you walk out of here tonight how they spilt his blood on the streets of dublin tonight we overthrow our jailers raise the sword of liberty for ireland once again a martian castle hill then on to sydney and take a ship for home do your country proud death or liberty for emmitt right man no vote [Music] cunningham commands a force of nearly 300 convicts most are united irishmen [Music] their first target is the government armory take them away facing little resistance they take control of a third of the arms in the colony cunningham's plans are coming together come on time is of the essence quick go go the rebels split into groups and go from farm to farm burning and looting they take more weapons and run as the night wears on discipline begins to break down [Music] things are about to get worse cunningham is betrayed by one of his own who reveals their location to the governor [Laughter] on the morning of the 5th of march 1804 troops arrive at the rebel camp at castle hill outside sydney cunningham's plans are falling apart [Music] damn it god damn it mark my words man we irish are the makers of our own downfall here hi guys and then stand ready for the fight avoid further bloodshed we come to parley are you their leader yes i arrest you in the name of his majesty sergeants take him away you can't do that that's a flag of peace prepare to fire sir fire at will [Applause] the rebels are outgunned and the battle is over in minutes here in australia the only echo of 1798 the irish uprising is our own vinegar hill and there were many dreams associated with with it the but but one of them was the restoration of equity these men lived under a tyranny retribution is swift and merciless philip cunningham is hanged without a trial [Music] [Applause] [Music] his mr is left swinging on the rope as a warning to other would-be rebels [Music] maybe it's the the same sky as me it's not the same sky they're seeing back home no sight of a plow but the same moon and sun moon and sun this southern cross is the course i bear since i landed under this hemisphere [Music] cunningham's time was short and brutal but his failed revolution lives on in the hearts of generations of irish australians [Music] while the british government quells resistance in australia in ireland political freedom is all but dead the irish parliament has been abolished the country is now ruled from london as part of the united kingdom democracy is virtually extinct but there are those who refuse to give up in the wicklow hills south of dublin a four-year guerrilla conflict is fought against the british army the rebels are led by a farmer called michael dwyer a man who saw many of his family slaughtered in the 1798 rebellion [Music] known as the wicklow chief he mounts a brilliant resistance leading thousands of british soldiers on a merry dance remove that obstacle [Music] although there is a high price on his head dwyer is a master tactician doggie lifter fatally we remember him specifically because of course even though the rebellion itself was over within what five six months uh dwyer held out and he stayed out with 50 or 60 men he continued to hurry the the yeoman and the army he uh continued to protect the people in wicklow remember a lot of retributions after the rebellion was down the dwyer in return would come and attack them uh very much a robin hood kind of character in irish mythology probably the nearest thing we would have to robin hood uh but his primary objective of course is with all of the united irishmen with a for a fairer government and b ultimately for a free country however by 1803 the noose's tightening on dwyer red coats [Music] immediate he and his band of loyal followers are never defeated in the field he surrenders only when the british capture his family he surrendered to lord hume uh and his terms were very simple that he would not be a prisoner that he would be sent to the united states he accepted he couldn't stay in ireland he that he'd be sent to the united states with his wife and children as a free man the british renege on the deal and dwyer is exiled to new south wales without sentence he arrives in the colony in 1805 and although he is a free man he immediately comes to the attention of the notorious governor bly of mutiny on the bounty fame [Music] it was reported to bly that the dryer was stirring things up that he was saying that all irish will be free in australia and these could have been absolutely false dwyer certainly denied them but uh he was brought to court for this sedition the public gallery is full of admiring irishmen and women he mounts his own defense and uses the courtroom as his personal soapbox the evidence given against me takes the most cruel and despicable form i have been accused of treason by governor bligh not the first of the false accusations against me since my exile to this colony the governor of this colony continues to work against me even as i try to make a new life for myself in this land [Applause] order in the court order format have you reached a verdict we have your honor not guilty lies enraged and overturns the verdict dwyer is banished to the hell hole of norfolk island and later sent to van diemen's land however dwyer is a popular man particularly with the hard drinking british soldiers in 1808 bly is overthrown by his own troops and dwyer is released later that year all irishmen will be free let me hear you free dwight is brought back in fact rises rises through the through the society over the next uh couple of decades he becomes a police constable uh he becomes a publican and uh kind of completes the irish trifecta by being a bit of a folk singer the wicklow chief is coming home not to the place where he was born to rest down by a southern sea a brave stone down at waverly where an irishman is finally free singing hey ho and a barrel of rum the whitlow chief is coming home [Music] but eventually dwyer's love of the bottle gets the better of him one by one his business interests fail and he is sent to debtors prison in 1825 the last leader of the united irishmen contracts dysentery and dies he is buried in a pauper's grave but not forgotten dwyer left behind seven children and 21 grandchildren in australia one hundred years after the 1798 rebellion irish australia came together to remember the wicklow chief dwyer was re-buried at waverly cemetery more than 100 000 people lined the streets for his final funeral procession they say that when his body left mary's cathedral for waverly cemetery it had arrived before the last of the crowd around the cathedral had left so this was the authenticity of his legend and the authenticity of people's desire for freedom he was proof that one could resist in australia he became a rallying point and he inspired the irish out there i think he still does inspire them as somebody who stood up to authority and somebody who proved that of course he could become ultimately an australian he could become an irish australian and that they they would have somebody in their culture that they could look to from the homeland i look on those united irishmen in early new south wales as boy probably despite their drinking habits angels of enlightenment and again an indication of the fact that this was not a bad progeny this was not a bad um set of forebears to lay down for an australian populace as the exiled united irishmen begin to make a life for themselves in australia britain is swept by protest and revolt only those with wealth and land are entitled to vote but there is a growing demand for a fairer system of government the new tiger economy of wales becomes a hotbed of unrest as industrialization causes misery on a scale never before seen the town of newport would become the center for this resistance you could characterize life for ordinary working people in the south wales valleys as being short dangerous unbrutal and it's not an exaggeration um a vicious combination of poor working conditions also of poor living conditions dangers of people being maimed young children working in mines or in iron works disease was endemic there's frequent cholera or typhus and brutal in the sense of 50 percent of children died before they reached the age of five [Music] disease industrial accidents and starvation kill thousands workers vent their rage in spontaneous often violent protest this is happening all over the united kingdom you have to see what's being done to working people in england as part of the british establishment rather than the english establishment there's a really important difference there the british establishment at the time were the imperialists they were the aristocrats they were the people who wanted to rule the world whereas the ordinary working people of england had the same problems and the same complaints as the ordinary working people of ireland of wales of scotland so it's a very important distinction it's the british empire not the english empire from this chaos and misery emerges a new political movement that unites workers in 1836 englishman william lovett devises the people's charter at its core the charter hopes to create a fairer system of government with votes for all men regardless of wealth there was a fundamental split which appeared in chartism by the late 1830s and between those who figured that one could push in a democratic and peaceful way for the six points of the charter and those who saw rebellion revolution as the only way yeah i think it's important for us to remember that chartism in wales was was a bit different of course chartism was a national movement you find chartist activity throughout britain but there was an edge to it in wales in the bleak industrial nightmare of south wales the charter becomes a rallying call for men of action two key figures emerge zephaniah williams and john frost they are unlikely partners williams is a mining contractor a free thinker and a devout atheist while frost is more of an establishment figure a magistrate and former mayor of newport their plan is to march an army of workers on the town of newport and drive the crown out of south wales it is a modern working-class rebellion aimed at deposing the hated ruling class once new pot is a cure we will imprison the aristocrats and magistrates if any of them make the least resistance they will be put to death of course there are those among them will not escape it's clear there was a great deal of planning and preparation it's also pretty obvious that a great deal of that planning was done through the meeting of the welsh language and that's quite important and it was something which worried the national government there's a clear sense here as far as the metropolitan in london is concerned that these are somehow dangerous uh peripheral areas add in the um discontent that a lack of political representation and the abuses of the old political system and you've got a pretty fiery cauldron there indeed and i believe [Music] hear how we marched in the rain down the free idea come right from captivity captivity captivity [Music] free i outdo come right from [Applause] [Music] [Applause] captivity [Music] [Applause] [Music] reviled reform was our watchword as we march through the midnight strong our beliefs [Music] the chartist leaders are quickly rounded up well the trial was the trial of the leadership of the chartist was held in the shirehole in monmouth and it was in many respects a show trial on a show trial it seems to me with a foregone conclusion uh the leaders were convicted and they were sentenced to death now we stand trial and charging charges [Music] at the very last moment the death sentence is commuted to transportation for life the british government do not want to create the first martyrs to chartism [Music] when frost and williams arrive in hobart the capital of van diemen's land as educated men they expect to be given a ticket of leave allowing them the freedom to live and work in the community [Music] instead they are sent directly to port arthur a prison within a prison colony chartism was considered a real threat these men had taken arms on british soil against her majesty's government and they were considered a clear and present danger van diemen's land was in fact this was described as a prison without walls but in order to function it needed somewhere where people dreaded to be sent and that's what penal stations like portal that was their function they were meant to be feared they were like the the engine room which kept the colonial unfree labor pump going williams is made a supervisor at the coal mines leave it there with me good day's work boys take them down guys come on boys that's clear the last two the unfortunate welshman is kidnapped by a group of escaping convicts who are afraid he will report their plans to the authorities williams is eventually released and immediately surrenders but his story is not believed he is put into solitary confinement at port arthur the hardboard on which i lie is 18 inches wide to keep me from the cold i have just three pounds weight of blankets and a parcel of chains around my legs my boots make a pillow for 16 weeks i've been kept in this wretched situation the truth is that in van diemen's land the innocents are more often punished than the guilty [Music] port arthur is designed to grind rogues into honest men and to strike fear into the hearts of the general convict population the more degrading and dehumanizing the punishment the more brutal the work the more fear is created although prisoners like williams and frost are stripped of their freedom and dignity inexplicably the british do not take away their pens and ink transportation was more like a loud hailer in the sense that it created martyrs to these various causes and in fact in a global world connected by ship and by journalism and by the capacity to write letters and by the movement of people around it it was impossible to silence the letters written by williams and frost add fuel to a growing movement against convict transportation in spite of all the political radicals sent to australia it would be a naive young american who would drive the first dagger into the heart of the convict system we love linus miller of course because he's written the best account of the convict system his book is immensely readable and it's also very vivid and so there's a sense that you can really feel what it's like having to for work is a beast of burden basically it kind of fits very squarely within the slave narrative i mean he's writing he's writing at a time that the slave narratives are very popular in america as part of the abolitionist movement leading up to the civil war born in 1817 in upstate new york miller trains as a lawyer but he is desperate for adventure inspired by the american revolution in 1838 he joins the american patriots a group of young firebrands hell-bent on liberating canada from british rule do you know the beaver to be a dangerous animal no it is not let me show you the plans the yankee patriots are a very very strange organization a sort of cross between a zealous belief in american republicanism and a kind of freemasonry organization with a whole set of secret signs and symbols they believe passionately in extending the american republic to to canada in june 1838 miller and a band of american patriots cross into canada near niagara falls where they try to ignite a canadian revolution there is a country to the north that craves its liberty the oppressive yoke of england they seek to forget but if it's freedom they demand they just don't know it yet so it's up then canadians this is a call to arms they're coming from the foundries and the factories and the farms you can't hear a marching i'd be very well surprised and we'll meet you down in windsor on the fourth day of july [Music] they are quickly rounded up by militias and marched into captivity by american slaves who had escaped to canada he was a dreamer obviously a bit of a self-aggrandizer and he just got caught up in something that was completely beyond him so ended my dreams of a glorious campaign in canada alas that hope so bright and promising should thus be blasted for the first time in my life i felt myself a captive miller was charged with piratical invasion and sentenced to death but the british do not want to provoke the united states so the sentence is commuted to transportation the governor sir john franklin welcomes him personally to van diemen's land get in there not satisfied with being a republican yourself we tried to make others so to set up your institutions in canada what makes your case more aggravating is your youth you are very young to be part of such a wicked rebellion [Music] and a lawyer too to break the law yourself and to teach others to do it shame on you be careful sir van diemen's land is not america move the prisoners out miller is put to hard labor on a work gang in the tasmanian midlands a sense of injustice we were suffering at the hands of our enemies was continually burning in my brain keep moving get up you bloody crawler i'm an american citizen i'm a british slave [Music] he escapes with another yankee patriot and they head for hobart hoping to escape on an american whaling ship but after days on the run they give themselves up and are sent to port arthur i mean he's a young man port arthur which is known to be a sinkhole sodomy if he was not raped he was probably suffered you know a lot of sexual innuendo a lot of sexual advances and obviously terrified [Music] i think i did not sleep over two hours each night the number of inmates was daily increasing and the scenes enacted by these wretched men were of the most diabolical of character too dark to be written too dreadful to be thought of [Music] zephaniah williams suffers the hell of port arthur but he is made of stern stuff after his release he has made a constable and distinguishes himself by quelling a riot at the local asylum the new governor early willmott even recommends him for a full pardon the authorities in london have still not forgotten about newport [Music] in desperation williams tries to escape once again but is caught and sent back to the coal mines as williams toils at port arthur the anti-transportation movement is gathering steam this alliance of free settlers business leaders and ex-convicts dares to imagine a new self-governing colony free from the economic and social stigma of forced labor the anti-transportation league was important because it was the first time that serious colonial resistance to transportation was encountered many middle class individuals who were supporters of the anti-slavery movement were also anti-transportation but were increasingly joined by working people many of them former convicts or indeed the sons and daughters of former convicts but of course they were competing with convict labor in order to put bread on the table to feed their children linus miller is finally pardoned in 1845 and returns home to new york in america free from censorship and the control of the british government he is able to write a searing indictment of the penal system notes of an exile to van diemen's land is a literary sensation embarrassing the crown and helping to whip up anti-transportation sentiment across the globe it was a casa real society i mean there was nothing else quite like it in the world it was a society that was one big prison you were under surveillance you were under the thumb of the imperial state they watched your every move there was no sense of personal freedom to be had this was truly shocking as more and more horror stories leak out of australia the days of the transportation system are numbered you to condemn the sword know my lord for by its emerald light a great republic's front from the colonies of the north atlantic and by its shimmering light they asserted their presence upon the face of the earth 1848 is a year of uprisings right across europe and the british empire is not immune two men one a wealthy irish aristocrat the other the son of a freed slave will help australia take its next steps towards nationhood did the jailers crush our spirit as the monsters did intend no we flew the flag of freedom and we fought them to the

Channel: Timeline - World History Documentaries

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Keywords: History, Full Documentary, Documentaries, Full length Documentaries, Documentary, TV Shows - Topic, Documentary Movies - Topic, 2017 documentary, BBC documentary, Channel 4 documentary, history documentary, documentary history, australian history, colonial history, australia, australian origins, conivct australia, australian independence, british history, james cook

Id: OZLc4QcJb-U

Length: 49min 30sec (2970 seconds)

Published: Thu May 13 2021