It was believed according to Rosa Campbell Praed that anyone could form “an imperfect picture of Australia as it was…” (Praed, 1885, p.3). Just as other countries were at that time, Australia was a far from perfect place. Several different conflicts were going on at that time, making Australia a questionable place to live. Through the life of Rosa Campbell Praed, it is evident what life was like in Australia at that time. Rosa’s life story and account of her childhood in the book “Australian Life, Black and White” allows people to have a better understanding of the struggles that both black and white people dealt with during the period of British Imperialism in Australia. By following the life of Rosa Campbell Praed, we are able to see that British Imperialism affected those who lived in Australia through racial tension which created the idea of white superiority and black inferiority which resulted in multiple forms of violence, along with settler colonialism occurring causing the whites to take over the Aboriginals land and take advantage of them by conforming them into the white customs and using them for their own benefit, which too led to violence.
The life of Rosa Campbell Praed can tell us a lot about the life in Australia during the time of British Imperialism. Rosa is the daughter of a squatter in Australia. She grew up in the time when white occupation was present in New South Wales and Southern Queensland. Rosa, although coming from a white family, grew up with Aboriginals as playmates, workers of her parents or people that were living on her father’s properties. As she got older, she married an English migrant, Campbell Praed, who had pastoral properties, which furthered her opportunity to interact with Aboriginals. Throughout the frontier life that Rosa had, she was able to develop an understanding of the Aboriginal culture itself. The relationships she had with them developed her curiosity of the race, which allowed her to develop a better understanding of them (Grimshaw, Evans, 1996).
Eventually, Rosa saw the effect of the depopulation of Aboriginals through the incoming of whites, and she believed that soon the race would cease to exist because of the whites taking over. Rosa then decided to become a novelist to write about her life and experiences, when she moved from Australia to London. Rosa traditionally writes about her memoirs and used her life as women in the British settlement of Australia as a background. The main concept behind Rosa’s writing consisted of the oppression occurring against the Aboriginals. Rosa experienced at a very young age the violence between Aboriginals and settlers during that time (Grimshaw, Evans, 1996).
The story of Rosa Campbell Praed tells us a lot about what life was like in Australia under British Imperialism. Rosa grew up in the midst of the racial tension between the blacks and whites. According to A. R. Welch, the Australian Aboriginals during this time were seen as the racial inferiority and were known to be the “most wretched, primitive, miserable race on earth” (Welch, 1988, p. 203). They were looked down upon by many, including by Rosa herself. Rosa’s story states that the British saw Aboriginals as having no view of honor, loyalty or family relations. Rosa states that the blacks were often found chasing down people from their own tribe, along with whites as the Aboriginals didn’t feel the need to be loyal or respectful towards anyone because of the tension occurring (Praed, 1885, p. 17). At first when the whites came, there were no problems. But as time went on, and they weren’t leaving, there was an increase in tension. Overtime, racial differences caused the whites to feel superior to the Aboriginals. Rosa’s story makes it evident that it is a good thing the war ended for that time. Rosa believes that if the blacks had any power in the society at that time, they may have exterminated the whites (Praed, 1885, p. 20). Through Rosa’s story, she shows that racial tension was extremely prevalent within both races. The whites treated blacks as pests and nuisances causing the blacks to have hateful feelings towards them (Irving, 2014, p. 400). This shows that racial tension was a big part of the Australian society at this time. Neither the whites or the blacks saw each other positively; the Aboriginals state that the whites were seen as aggressive, while the whites state that blacks were “inferior beings.” A researcher states that things got so bad during this time that murder wasn’t even necessarily seen as “bad” (Welch, 1988, p. 204). Racial tension caused both races to be hostile towards one another and created mistrust between the two.
In addition, Rosa’s story can tell us a lot about the effect of British conquest in Australia and how it caused white settler colonialism. British Imperialism caused white people to come into the Aboriginals territory and take it over without regards to the past ownership. At first, this wasn’t a problem and the two groups didn’t have any conflict with each other. Rosa, coming from a white family, experienced first-hand the life of squatters as her father was one. A squatter is someone who occupied a large amount of land. But, as the number of squatters increased, the amount of land being taken over also increased (Grimshaw, Evans, 1996). Over time, when the Aboriginals saw that the whites weren’t leaving their land, and instead are taking over more, is when tension started to arise. According to A. R. Welch, the Aborigines during this time had no real society and therefore it seemed they had “no real title to the land” (Welch, 1988, p. 204). If the Aboriginals weren’t able to cultivate their own group, they shouldn’t have a right to the land. But, the fact was really that both cultures had different ideas of a civilized society, causing the misconceptions. Rosa, along with other whites, made it clear that at this time, the Aboriginals were a low type of humanity and therefore believed that they were not able to civilize a society, because it was a different type than their own (Praed, 1885, p. 41). Therefore, white people felt it was their duty to take over the land. Despite the fact that the aboriginals were the original settlers of the land, Sydney was known to many as the habitat of the “white species” because of the vast amount of whites who took it over (Praed, 1885, p. 21). The whites didn’t take into account the “fairness,” or letting those who were there first, have their fair pick at what they wanted. Northern Australia during this time was seen as a natural asset by the whites and needed to be used as it had the potential to contribute to the national building project and had many benefits. The whites believed it would be the perfect area to build into an empire (Irving, 2014, p. 395). The importance of using the land, and seeing that the Aboriginals weren’t doing it how they wished, is why the whites came and occupied it, despite it being the Aboriginals home.
In addition to colonizing the Aboriginal's area, the colonists in Australia often excluded the Aboriginals from the white society. Welch states that the Aboriginals were typically denied any type of status by the whites (Welch, 1988, p. 206). This exclusion from society created a domination of one culture over the other. Therefore, Rosa’s story tells us that any blacks who worked for whites often adopted their culture (Praed, 1885, p. 35). Rosa states that many whites during this time had Aboriginals working for them. This is explained through Irving, that during this time, those who lived in Australia typically had to conform to the White Australia’s ideas of living (Irving, 2014, p. 390). Rosa’s story shows us that in addition to whites taking away their freedom and position in society through use of control and superiority, white families would often have black boys as guards for them or house servants. Colored people were forced into labor by the whites, even working the land the whites took over. Irving states that they believed that it was essential to use colored laborers on the land or it would remain idle and be wasted (Irving, 2014, p. 396). By using the Aboriginals for service, they are being accepted as a lower race in the society, while land stayed in possession of the whites. Because the colored people worked for white families often times, Rosa states that they tended to adopt their customs (Praed, 1885, p. 51). Rosa herself, along with her family, had Aboriginals working in close proximity to them. Through the idea of inferiority and superiority during this time, whites used their power to take over the land of the Aboriginals, while forcing them into personal labor (Welch, 1988, p. 204).
Because of the hope of maintaining order through white superiority and the racial tension between the blacks and whites, there was a lot of conflict and violence within the Australian society. Violence was common due to displacement of land, and a hierarchical society was created, with whites being at the top. Many researchers found that there was a lack of respect between the two races (Irving, 2014, p. 396). The mutual respect that they had for each other when the British originally came in, quickly faded away. Rosa states that there was a sense of terror of the violence in both the homes and lives of both indigenous and settlers (Grimshaw, Evans, 1996). Both races feared each other as tension rose. As far as Rosa Campbell Praed can remember, she states that there has always been blacks and “… white men, who usually carried revolvers” (Praed, 1885, p. 30). The whites clearly looked down upon the Aboriginals and saw them as inferior beings. Irving states that during this time, the blacks were forcefully towards the whites, just as the whites were forceful and uncaring towards blacks (Irving, 2014, p. 398). Both the whites and Aboriginals were forceful to each other mutually due to retaliation for whatever the opposite race had done. Therefore, Rosa mentions that murder was common. She states remembering that sometimes blacks would sneak out of their camps and murder people. Often times that one murder was followed by many others (Praed, 1885, p. 9). This time in Australia created it to be a horrid place. Welch states that the murders amount blacks and whites were due to the exploitation during that time (Welch, 1988, p. 204). This tension and poor treatment often caused the blacks to revolt back during this time.
Rosa’s story shows us that the whites and blacks had to fight for a place in society. Rosa states that everyone was on edge during this time. If whites tried to take over black’s area, the blacks would fight back and kill them all (Praed, 1885, p. 47). No one was able to get away with anything, without having to pay for it. Additionally, Rosa tells us that if anyone’s cattle or land were touched, those people would be disciplined (Praed, 1885, p. 11). Both the Aboriginals and whites had to keep a watchful eye on their property, because in a second, it could be taken over. Irving states that the blacks had strong hatred towards the whites during this time as they felt that they were “there first” and shouldn’t have their areas taken away from them (Irving, 2014, p. 399). Because the Aboriginals have been there forever, they believed that they should be able to keep what they found. Additionally, A. R. Welch states that racial tension occurring between the blacks and whites during this time created the ideology of struggling for survival. Although the two races were unequal, they both had to fight for a position within the society, despite the possibility of extermination of an inferior race (Welch, 1988, p. 204). The inequality was created due to the competition between the races. The race that lost on the power in the area has the possibility to be forgotten. Because neither race had respect towards one another, they tried to get away with their actions through violence. For example, Rosa remembers one time when a black man tried to escape the police after what he had done, he hid in a tree. Because the police officer was unable to get the black man to come down from the tree, he shot him to make him fall down (Praed, 1885, p. 16). The only way that they were able to maintain order was through violence. Rosa’s example shows us that racial tensions caused both blacks and whites to be involved in violence (Praed, 1885, p. 40). Neither race seemed to get justice due to the tension between the two. Although each race dealt with their problems within Australia, it was evident that the white race had the greater power within the white settler colonialism circumstances.
In conclusion, British Imperialism in Australia played a major toll on those living there. The British came into an area that was settled by Aboriginals, and completely took over. Through the life of Rosa Campbell Praed we are able to tell a lot about how the British truly affected the life of the Aboriginals. Because of Rosa’s personal relationship with the Aboriginals, we were able to see the negative affect the British had on the Aboriginals. Life in Australia during this time consisted of racial tensions between the blacks and whites. The racial tensions caused there to be lots of violence between the two races. Additionally, Rosa’s story tells us about colonial settlement. The whites came into the Aboriginals land and completely took it over. They then used the blacks as servants for their families and their land. The struggle to maintain order resulted in even more violence. Overall, when the British came into the Australian land, they took advantage and wiped out the Aboriginal culture from their natural land. As A. R. Welch believes, once a superior races comes in, the inferior race is born to die out at that point (Welch, 210).
Works Cited
Campbell Praed, R. (1885). Australian life, black and white. British Empire, 1-60. Retrieved from http://www.empire.amdigital.co.uk/Documents/Images/Australian%20Life%20Black%20and%2 0White/140
Grimshaw, P., & Evans, J. (1996). Colonial women on intercultural frontiers: Rosa Campbell Praed, Mary Bundock and Katie Langloh. Australian Historical Studies, 27(106), 79.
Irving, S. (2014). Governing nature: the problem of northern Australia. Australian Historical Studies,45(3), 388-406. doi:10.1080/103/146X.2014.946521
Welch, A. (1988). Aboriginal Education as Internal Colonialism: The Schooling of an
Indigenous Minority in Australia. Comparative Education, 24(2), 203-215. Retrieved
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