Ready-Ed Publications
Ages 7 - 10 years
History of
Australia for Juniors The History of Australia for Juniors is designed to develop not only your students’ critical thinking skills but also their historical knowledge of the place in which they live. The activities found within this book suit students aged between 7 and 10 and will help them come to understand that they are a part of a rich history which begins with the arrival of Indigenous Australians to the place that they call home.
History of
Australia for Juniors
The influence of the Dutch, the British, inland exploration, the Gold Rush and bushrangers are just some of the topics explored in this teacher-friendly resource.
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History of Australia for Juniors ISBN 978 186 397 839 2
By Lindsay Marsh
This is a Ready-Ed Publications' Ready-Ed book preview. Publications
Title: History of Australia for Juniors © 2012 Ready-Ed Publications Printed in Australia Author: Lindsay Marsh Illustrators: Alison Mutton, Melinda Brezmen.
Acknowledgements i. Clip art images have been obtained from Microsoft Design Gallery Live and are used under the terms of the End User License Agreement for Microsoft Word 2000. Please refer to www.microsoft.com/permission. ii. Wikimedia Commons. iii. National Library of Australia. iv. State Library of Victoria.
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ISBN: 978 186 397 839 2 2
Contents
This is a Ready-Ed Publications' book preview. Teachers’ Notes Australian Curriculum Links
4 4
Section 1: In the Beginning... Teachers’ Notes The Very First Australians 1 The Very First Australians 2 The Very First Australians 3 The Very First Australians 4 Teachers’ Notes Along Came the Dutch Teachers’ Notes Next Came the British Teachers’ Notes The British Sent Convicts 1 The British Sent Convicts 2 The British Sent Convicts 3 Teachers’ Notes The British Built Colonies Teachers’ Notes Life as an Australian Convict Teachers’ Notes How Indigenous Australians Coped 1 How Indigenous Australians Coped 2 Teachers’ Notes Sorry Day
5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27
Section 2: Expansion of the Colonies Teachers’ Notes Brave Explorers
28 29 30
Teachers’ Notes Captain Charles Sturt Teachers’ Notes Other Explorers 1 Other Explorers 2 Teachers’ Notes Indigenous Guides and Trackers Teachers’ Notes Discovering Gold 1 Discovering Gold 2
31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40
Section 3: Australian Bushrangers Teachers’ Notes Bushrangers 1 Bushrangers 2 Teachers’ Notes John Donohoe Teachers’ Notes Frank Gardiner Teachers’ Notes Ben Hall Teachers’ Notes Ned Kelly 1 Ned Kelly 2
41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53
Section 4: The Whole Story Create a History of Australia Box Memory Game Slices of History Australian History Board Game
53 55 56 57 58
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Teachers’ Notes
This is a Ready-Ed Publications' book preview. The History of Australia for Juniors is a teacher-friendly resource which encourages students, aged between 7 and 10, to develop their historical knowledge and critical thinking skills. The book is divided into four comprehensive sections.
The first section explores the lifestyles of Indigenous Australians before colonisation, the Dutch’s sojourn to Australia and the impact of British colonisation.
The second section of the book tracks the journeys of white colonisers who were determined to find new land within Australia to expand the colony. The role that indigenous guides and trackers played in inland exploration is also investigated, as is the Gold Rush. The third section examines the lives and roles of Australian bushrangers, while the fourth section includes fun activities designed to consolidate students’ historical knowledge of Australia. The activity sheets are all curriculum linked and the answers are provided throughout the book on the pages entitled Teachers’ Notes.
Australian Curriculum Links Year 3
Year 4
Year 5
Historical Knowledge and Understanding ACHHK060 ACHHK063
Historical Knowledge and Understanding ACHHK077 ACHHK079 ACHHK080
Historical Knowledge and Understanding ACHHK093 ACHHK094 ACHHK095
Historical Skills ACHHS081 ACHHS082 ACHHS083 ACHHS084
Historical Skills ACHHS098 ACHHS099 ACHHS100 ACHHS101 ACHHS102 ACHHS103
Historical Skills ACHHS065 ACHHS066 ACHHS067 ACHHS068
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4
This is a Ready-Ed Publications' book preview. Section 1: In the Beginning...
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Teachers’ Notes
The Very First Australians
This is a Ready-Ed Publications' book preview. Sheet 1
• Read out the information at the top of the sheet, then ask the students to look at the sources. • The students should recognise the first source as a human fossil or skeleton. Tell them that many indigenous skeletons have been dug up at traditional indigenous burial sites and experts have tested these skeletons to determine for how long indigenous people have inhabited Australia. You could discuss the Mungo Man and the Mungo Lady – indigenous skeletons dug up at Lake Mungo in New South Wales. Experts believe that the Mungo Man is 40,000 years old and the Mungo Lady is between 40,0000 and 68,000 years old, making her the oldest fossil in Australia. • The students should label the second source rock art. Tell the students that indigenous art work can be found at indigenous rock shelters on the walls. Experts are able to date the art work and understand more about the indigenous way of life by what the people represented in their art. • The students should label the third source either an artefact, hunting tool or spear. • As a class think of a definition for primary sources of evidence (sources which have been created at the time of the event, rather than after the event). Discuss why all of the sources shown are primary sources.
Extension Activities: • Set up sand trays around the classroom to simulate an archaeological dig. • Take students to local rock shelters to see rock engravings and paintings, or to museums which display indigenous artefacts.
Sheet 2: • Read out the information at the top of the sheet then ask the students to complete the activities individually. • The hunting tools are: the boomerang (A), the spear (B) and the fishing net (D). The gathering tools are: the coolamon (C), the digging stick (E) and the basket (F). • A boomerang was made from wood taken from trees; spears were made from wood and stone and tied together using the stems of plants; fishing nets were made from the fibres from barks of trees; coolamons were carved from wood, as were digging sticks. Baskets were made from stems of plants and from strips of bark softened in water.
Sheet 3: • Read out the information at the top of the sheet then ask the students to complete the activities individually. • Foods gathered: honeycombs, birds’ eggs, berries, wattle seeds, yams, lilies, mussels, moths, macadamia nuts, flowers, grubs. Foods hunted: possums, frogs, pigeons, echidnas, wallabies, goannas, fish, cockatoos, ducks. • The paintbrush should be matched with the 2nd description. The paint should be matched with the 4th description. The canvas should be matched with the 3rd description and the clap sticks should be matched with the 1st description.
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Sheet 4:
• Visit www.aaia.com.au and click on Culture to find out the meanings of more indigenous shapes and markings. 6
History of Australia
The Very First Australians 1
Activity Page
This is a Ready-Ed Publications' book preview. • The very first people to set foot in Australia were Indigenous Australians. • They walked from Asia to Australia on land bridges, which are now underwater.
• They have lived in Australia for approximately 50,000 to 60,000 years. • We know this because we have dug up and dated their skeletons and items that they have used. We have also uncovered and dated their art work. Fill out the information.
Name of source: ___________________________
Name of source: ___________________________ © 2005 Dr Ellen K. Rudolph www.drellenrudolph.com
Name of source: ___________________________
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These are all primary sources of evidence because …
___________________________________________________________ 7
History of Australia
The Very First Australians 2
Activity Page
This is a Ready-Ed Publications' book preview. • The Indigenous Australians travelled to Australia in groups, known as clans. The groups settled in different spots and spoke different languages.
• They made their own hunting and gathering tools from whatever they could find in their environment. The hunting tools were used to kill animals. The gathering tools were used to collect food from above ground and under the ground.
Use the words to label the hunting and gathering tools. fishing net boomerang digging stick spear coolamon basket
A
B
______________________________
______________________________
______________________________
______________________________
C
D
______________________________
______________________________
______________________________
______________________________
E
F
______________________________
______________________________
______________________________
______________________________
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Colour the hunting tools green and the gathering tools yellow. Say what each item might have been made from. 8
History of Australia
The Very First Australians 3
Activity Page
This is a Ready-Ed Publications' book preview. • Indigenous Australians were known as hunter-gatherers.
• This means that they learned how to find different kinds of food and sources of fresh water by moving from place to place.
Place the foods in the correct columns. honeycombs possums frogs pigeons
fish wallabies berries birds’ eggs
Foods Gathered
goannas wattle seeds yams lilies
mussels echidnas moths cockatoos
flowers ducks grubs macadamia nuts
Foods Hunted
• Indigenous Australians also made their own art materials and musical instruments. Match the words with the descriptions by drawing lines. Paint brush Paint
sticks of wood knocked together or on the ground rhythmically. made by sticking human hair to a stick of wood.
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Canvas
bark, cave walls and rocks were used.
Clap sticks
made by crushing coloured rocks and mixing with saliva or blood. 9
History of Australia
The Very First Australians 4
Activity Page
This is a Ready-Ed Publications' book preview. Look at these symbols that are used in indigenous desert art.
tracks
kangaroo
emu
honey ant
grub
possum
club
digging stick
human
spears
nest
well or waterhole
man
rain
star
quandong
bush plum
bowl
rain/flowers/ ants/eggs/fruit
rainbow/cloud/ sand dune/cliff
Create a message in the space below using the symbols above. Can a classmate interpret your message?
Write what your message means on the back of this sheet.
How to make a paintbrush
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Indigenous Australians obtained all of their art supplies from their natural surroundings. Use the information on page 9 to write instructions for 'How to make paint and a paintbrush from natural materials'. Set your instructions out as numbered steps. 10
Teachers’ Notes
Along Came the Dutch
This is a Ready-Ed Publications' book preview. •
Read out the information at the top of the page and then ask the students to complete the activity using coloured pencils. For example the students could colour the first piece of information blue, (In 1606 William Jansz explored the Gulf of Carpentaria). They would then need to colour the Gulf of Carpentaria blue on the map.
•
When the students have finished the activity sheet you could provide them with further background information on Dutch maritime exploration: -
When William Jansz explored the Gulf of Carpentaria, he thought it was part of New Guinea, Cook later dispelled this myth.
-
Dirk Hartog spent three days exploring Shark Bay. When he left, he fixed a pewter plate to a post to show that he had been there. Students could draw this on the map. Dirk Hartog Island is named after him.
-
Jan Carstensz made the first known recorded contact with Indigenous Australians who lived in Cape York.
-
In 1628 the ship Vyanen sailed along the north-west coast of Australia for about two hundred miles, sighting what are now known as Barrow Island, Dampier, Roebourne and Port Hedland.
-
On June 4th 1629, the Batavia was wrecked on the Houtman Abrolhos off the coast of Western Australia.
-
Abel Tasman named Australia New Holland in 1644. This name remained in use for over 180 years until it was officially changed in 1824 to Australia. It was Matthew Flinders, a British explorer, who first referred to the land as Australia after his visit there in 1795.
-
The Dutch explorers did not stay in Australia for long.
-
They did not wish to try to claim the land for themselves.
-
They saw it as a barren place and thought that the Indigenous Australians had very little to trade.
-
In a diary entry, Jan Carstensz wrote that Australia was an ‘unproductive’ land inhabited by ‘primitive people’ who have no knowledge ‘of metals and spices’.
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History of Australia
Along Came the Dutch
Activity Page
This is a Ready-Ed Publications' book preview. • In the 1600s Dutch ships stumbled across Australia.
• They spotted Australia when they were out looking for the quickest way to reach Indonesia. • The Dutch traded goods with the Indonesian people regularly.
Use different coloured pencils to match the Dutch explorers and ships with the places that they landed or sighted on the Australian map. • In 1606 William Jansz explored the Gulf • In 1628 the ship Gulden Zeepaert sailed along the Great Australian Bight. of Carpentaria. • In 1616 Dirk Hartog landed at Shark Bay. • In 1636 Gerrut Tomaz Pool sailed along the coast of Arnhem Land. • In 1619 Frederick De Houtman visited • In 1642 Abel Tasman sighted Tasmania. the Abrolhos Islands. • In 1623 Jan Carstensz explored Cape York. Arnhem Land
Gulf of Carpentaria Cape York
Shark Bay
AUSTRALIA
Abrolhos Islands
Great Australian Bight
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Create a timeline to show when the Dutch and their ships arrived in Australia. Use the back of this sheet. 12
Teachers’ Notes
Next Came the British
This is a Ready-Ed Publications' book preview. •
Ask the students to read the information provided in the boxes on the sheet and then complete the activities.
•
You could provide the students with further information about William Dampier and James Cook when they have completed the sheet.
Further information on William Dampier (1651 – 1715): • William Dampier was a pirate who inhabited the waters of South America and the Pacific between 1678 and 1691. On his first trip he spent two months looking around and documenting his thoughts and findings in exciting diaries which still exist. • The success of his first voyage and his interesting descriptions encouraged English officials to sponsor him for a return trip to Australia in 1699. He was placed in command of his own ship on this second trip. Further information on Captain James Cook (1728 – 1779): • Cook spent four months exploring the coastline of the east coast with Sir Joseph Banks who was a botanist and had been sent with Cook by the British government to study the plant life in Australia. • Cook made contact with an indigenous tribe know as Gweagal. • Cook’s ship was badly damaged in the Great Barrier Reef and took seven weeks to repair. • Cook put 8,000 kilometres of previously unknown coastline on the map and he settled the dispute about whether the Torres Strait was part of New Guinea. Extension Activity: • Read out some of Cook’s diaries to the class.
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History of Australia
Next Came the British
Activity Page
This is a Ready-Ed Publications' book preview. • British ships began arriving in Australia from 1688.
• In 1688 William Dampier arrived at King Sound in a ship known as the Cygnet. • In 1699 he returned in a ship known as the Roe-Buck and named Shark Bay, Dampier and Dampier Archipelago.
Draw Dampier’s ships next to the places that he visited.
f
ee
Cape York
rR
rie
ar
tB
• He travelled through the Great Barrier Reef to the tip of Cape York and through the Torres Strait.
Torres Strait ea Gr
• In 1770 Captain James Cook landed on the east coast of Australia and named it New South Wales. The first place that he landed was Botany Bay. His ship was known as the Endeavour.
Use a red pen to mark out where Cook sailed.
Botany Bay
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Despite meeting many Indigenous Australians on his travels, Cook described Australia as ‘terra nullius’ meaning ‘land belonging to no-one’ and claimed the entire east coast of Australia as British territory! 14
Teachers’ Notes
The British Sent Convicts
This is a Ready-Ed Publications' book preview. Sheet 1 •
After the students have read the information on the sheet and completed the activity, provide them with some more information on the topic to extend their knowledge. • Tell the students that unlike the Dutch, the British were interested in colonising Australia. They saw it as a good place to send their convicts. Read out some of the reasons (listed below): - Prisons were so overcrowded in the 1700s in Britain that prisoners were squashed into old ships (known as hulks) that had been converted into floating prisons. - The British government wanted to separate criminals from law-abiding citizens in society. - It was hoped that the harsh punishment of being transported would stop people committing crimes, even petty ones, as once convicts had been transported they were forbidden to return to Britain, even after serving out their sentences. - In 1776, America declared independence from Britain, so Britain could no longer send convicts there. - Britain wanted to prevent France and other European powers from colonising Australia. Britain were empire builders and wanted to extend their empire. - The British could use Australia’s location to promote trade with Asia. Sheet 2 • After the students have read the information and completed the activities, you could provide them with some more information about the First Fleet. • Tell them that two of the eleven ships that made up the First Fleet were the HMS Sirius and HMS Supply. These two ships were naval escorts and carried guns, marines responsible for guarding the convicts, the marines’ families, surgeons and other officials and skilled men. They led the nine other ships. The Alexander, Charlotte, Friendship, Lady Penrhyn, Prince of Wales and Scarborough all carried convicts. Golden Grove, Fishburn and Borrowdal all carried food, transport and other provisions. Sheet 3 • After students have read the information at the top of the page and completed the first activity on the sheet, draw their attention to the second activity. • Tell them that there were more problems than the ones listed. Other problems that they experienced were: tools and equipment were poorly made and not suitable for the work that needed to be done, the soil was not very good for farming, some marines drank heavily and did not carefully guard the convicts.
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Extension Activities: • Students could think of ways that Governor Phillip may have attempted to solve each problem. • They could also rank the problems in order of severity.
15
History of Australia
The British Sent Convicts 1
Activity Page
This is a Ready-Ed Publications' book preview. • In 1789, the British government decided to send convicts to Botany Bay in New South Wales because their gaols were overflowing.
• The convicts who were sent to Australia were responsible for both petty and serious crimes such as stealing, burglary, highway robbery and the possession of firearms. • Some were sent to Australia for 7 years, some for 14 years and some for life.
Imagine that you are a convict being sent to Australia in the late 1700s. Fill out a profile for yourself.
Name: ________________________________ Age: __________________________________ Offence: (Give details of the crime(s) that you have committed.) ______________________________________ ______________________________________ ______________________________________ Punishment: ______________________________________ Place where you are being sent: ______________________________________ What you think it will be like: ______________________________________
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16
History of Australia
The British Sent Convicts 2
Activity Page
This is a Ready-Ed Publications' book preview. • The first convicts travelled to Australia in eleven ships known as the First Fleet. • It took the ships nearly nine months to arrive in Australia.
• They set sail in May 1787 from Portsmouth, England. They stopped in Tenerife, Rio de Janeiro and the Cape of Good Hope. They arrived in Botany Bay in January 1788.
Using different coloured dots, show the First Fleet’s stopovers on the map. You may use an atlas or the internet. KEY Portsmouth (England) Tenerife (Canary Islands) Rio de Janeiro (South America) Cape of Good Hope (South Africa) Botany Bay (Australia)
England
Canary Islands
Mark the First Fleet’s route by joining the dots.
South Africa
• The journey was horrendous. Passengers were troubled by rats, bedbugs, lice, cockroaches and fleas. • Disease spread quickly because they lived below deck in cramped and humid conditions where there was no fresh air or opportunity to exercise. • Those who died were thrown overboard.
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Imagine that you are a convict on board the First Fleet. On the back of this sheet write about living with rats, bedbugs and fleas. 17
History of Australia
The British Sent Convicts 3
Activity Page
This is a Ready-Ed Publications' book preview. • The man in charge of the First Fleet was Governor Arthur Phillip. • When he arrived in Botany Bay he said that it wasn’t a good place to set up a colony (a place to live).
• On 26th January 1788, he moved the convicts 12 kilometres north to Sydney Cove in Port Jackson because it was sheltered, had fresh water and fertile soil.
Read the information above and answer the questions. 1. What do we celebrate today on 26th January? ___________________________________________________________ 2. Why do you think this date was chosen? ___________________________________________________________ 3. Why did the convicts need fertile soil? ___________________________________________________________ Setting up a colony was harder than had first been imagined. Read the problems that they experienced below. Choose one problem and draw a picture to match it. The convicts tried to build houses but had little building experience. The convicts tried to grow food but had little farming experience. When food ran out they tried to hunt, but lacked hunting skills. Many convicts were too sick from the journey to build, hunt or farm.
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A lot of the cattle that arrived with them wandered off into the bush. 18
Teachers’ Notes
The British Built Colonies
This is a Ready-Ed Publications' book preview. •
Read the information at the top of the page and then ask the students to complete the activities individually.
•
Order that colonies were established: Tasmania, Queensland, Western Australia, Victoria and South Australia.
•
The types of jobs/skills that would have been needed to set up the new colonies: builders, farmers, doctors, priests, etc.
•
After students have completed the sheet, you could provide them with more information about the Second Fleet and the Third Fleet.
Further information on the Second Fleet: •
The Second Fleet consisted of six ships containing mainly convicts and much needed supplies. However the Second Fleet was not as well-planned as the First Fleet and many of the convicts arrived too ill to work or help develop the colony. This fleet became known as the ‘Death Fleet’ as 278 of the convicts and crew died on board compared to 48 on the First Fleet.
Further information on the Third Fleet: •
The Third Fleet consisted of eleven ships and contained convicts, military personnel and notable people to fill important positions in the colony.
•
Sending convicts to Australia ended in 1840 when the population stood at one million. More than 10,000 convicts had arrived in Australia since colonisation began on 806 ships. By the mid-1800s there were enough people in Australia to sustain and develop the colonies. The convicts had served their purpose.
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History of Australia
The British Built Colonies
Activity Page
This is a Ready-Ed Publications' book preview. • • • • •
In 1790 the Second Fleet arrived. In 1791 the Third Fleet arrived. Convicts were sent to Australia on ships up until 1840. Colonies were set up all over Australia. Some colonies were made up of ‘free settlers’ - people who came to Australia by choice.
Place the colonies in the order that they were established. Victoria (1835) Western Australia (1829) Tasmania (1803) South Australia (1836) Queensland (1824)
1 2 3 4 5 List the types of jobs/skills that would have been needed to set up the new colonies.
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20
______________________________
______________________________
______________________________
______________________________
Teachers’ Notes
Life as an Australian Convict
This is a Ready-Ed Publications' book preview. •
Read out the information at the top of the sheet and then ask the students to get into pairs and read the poem and answer the questions.
Answers: 1. The animal that the poet compares himself to is a horse. 2. The convict is given the job of ploughing the land. 3. He describes his accommodation as poor, basic, small and dirty, suggested by the words ‘hovel’, ‘built of mud and clay’, ‘rotten straw’ and ‘fence us in’. 4. The poet probably ‘daren’t say nay’ to sleeping on rotten straw for fear of punishment.
•
When students have completed the activity sheet you could provide them with more information about convict life.
Further information on convict life: •
While the vast majority of convicts in Australia were English and Welsh (70%), Irish (24%) and Scottish (5%), the convict population became fairly multicultural when convicts were sent from various British outposts, such as India and Canada. Maoris from New Zealand, the Chinese from Hong Kong and slaves from the Caribbean also arrived.
•
Good behaviour meant that convicts rarely served their full sentences, because they could apply for a Ticket of Leave, a Certificate of Freedom, a Conditional Pardon or even an Absolute Pardon. These allowed convicts to earn their own livings and live independently. Convicts sentenced to seven years of transportation could normally qualify for a Ticket of Leave after four years, while those serving fourteen year sentences could expect to serve between six to eight years. ‘Lifers’ could qualify for their ‘ticket’ after about ten to twelve years.
•
Convicts also worked for free settlers and small land holders. By 1821 there was a growing number of freed convicts who were appointed to positions of trust and responsibility as well as being granted land. In the mid-1830s only around 6% of the convict population were locked up. Extension Activities: • Visit www.convictcentral.com to see if any of the students’ ancestors were sent to Australia as convicts. • Look at other Australian folk songs which record the hardships of convict life such as “Jim Jones”, “Moreton Bay” and “Macquarie Harbour”. • Students could write their own folk songs, imagining that they are a convict. • Go to www.portarthur.org.au/ to explore the historical colony of Port Arthur, known for its harsh treatment of convicts.
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21
History of Australia
Life as an Australian Convict
Activity Page
This is a Ready-Ed Publications' book preview. • If convicts were well-behaved they were set free to earn their own livings and work independently.
• How well convicts were treated depended on where they worked. • Port Arthur in Tasmania, known to convicts as Van Diemen’s Land, was known as one of the cruellest colonies.
Read the poem written by a convict about life in Van Diemen’s Land. The first day that we landed here upon the fatal shore, the settlers came around us, some twenty score or more. They ranked us up like horses and they sold us out of hand, and they yoked us up to ploughing frames to plough Van Diemen’s Land. The hovels that we’re living in are built of mud and clay, with rotten straw for bedding, and to that we daren’t say nay. They fence us in with raging fire, and we slumber as we can, but it keeps away the wolves and tigers upon Van Diemen’s Land.
1. What animal does the poet compare himself to? ___________________________________________________________ 2. What work is he given to do? ___________________________________________________________ 3. How does he describe his accommodation? ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ 4. Why do you think the poet ‘daren’t say nay’ to sleeping on rotten straw?
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___________________________________________________________ Imagine that you are a convict in Van Diemen’s Land, use the back of this sheet to write a letter of complaint to the Governor. 22
Teachers’ Notes
How Indigenous Australians Coped
This is a Ready-Ed Publications' book preview. Sheet 1 •
Tell the students that when the white men and women first showed their faces on the shores of Australia, Indigenous Australians were mainly confused, as they had not seen such people before or the animals that they brought with them.
•
Initial reactions were fairly amicable but these relations became increasingly hostile as the Indigenous Australians realised the negative impact that the colonisers were having on their lives and lifestyles.
•
Read out the information on the sheet and ask students to fill in the consequence chart.
•
When students have completed the activity sheet you could discuss the term ‘terra nullius’ in more detail. Tell the students that in 1922 this term became a major issue in Australian politics. Many Indigenous Australians challenged the term and this led to them being able to regain some of their former land. Students could research this further.
Sheet 2 •
Read out the information at the top of the sheet. Tell them that other conflicts that broke out due to the colonisers’ unsympathetic attitudes towards the lifestyles of Indigenous Australians are known today as the Myall Creek Massacre and the Black War. Students could research these events and describe one of them using pictures or words.
•
After students have completed the activity sheet you can tell them that the indigenous population decreased significantly from 1788 to 1900 due to colonisation and that today we are still finding ways to help Indigenous Australians connect once more with their culture, tradition and people.
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History of Australia
How Indigenous Australians Coped 1
Activity Page
This is a Ready-Ed Publications' book preview. • When the British set up colonies around Australia, the lives of Indigenous Australians were disrupted. • The British brought many diseases with them (e.g. smallpox and malaria), which wiped out whole clans of Indigenous Australians. • The British brought foxes and cats with them which fouled natural water supplies and made it difficult for Indigenous Australians to access fresh water. • The British fenced off large amounts of land so the Indigenous Australians couldn’t move from place to place to access food. • The British claimed that Indigenous Australians had no right to sell or buy land because Australia was ‘terra nullius’ (belonged to no one).
Consequences
Diseases
Use the information above to complete the consequence chart.
The British brought many diseases with them, such as smallpox and malaria.
These diseases wiped out whole clans of Indigenous Australians.
Foxes and Cats
Fences
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Terra Nullius
24
History of Australia
How Indigenous Australians Coped 2
Activity Page
This is a Ready-Ed Publications' book preview. • At first the relationship between Indigenous Australians and the colonisers was a fairly friendly one.
• As time passed, Indigenous Australians realised how the colonisers were affecting their lifestyles.
• Conflicts broke out between the two groups. The Pinjarra Battle is an example of one such conflict. It happened in Western Australia between the colonisers and an indigenous tribe known as the Nyungars. Look at the consequence chart to see how the conflict grew. The colonists hunted wildlife for food.
reaction The Nyungar people hunted farm animals.
The colonists built fences and farm buildings.
reaction The Nyungar people used firestick farming. Crops
and farm buildings were destroyed. Soldiers issued flour rations to the Nyungar reaction The Nyungar men stole 445 kilograms of flour from people. Shenton Mill. Calyute, a Nyungar man, planed revenge for the Three Nyungars were arrested by the colonists for flogging of three of his men by trying to ambush theft. They were sent to Fremantle for trial, found reaction Thomas Peel, a colonist. He killed Nesbitt, a soldier guilty and flogged in public. instead. The Nyungar people go into hiding.
In the speech bubbles write the colonists’ and the Indigenous Australians’ thoughts about the Pinjarra Battle. Use the information above to help you.
Indigenous Australian
Colonist
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Teachers’ Notes
Sorry Day
This is a Ready-Ed Publications' book preview. •
Ask the students when they think Sorry Day is. Write this date on the board. (May 26th every year.)
•
Ask them to whom we are saying sorry to. (Traditional owners of the land/ Indigenous Australians.) Write this on the board.
•
Ask them why we are saying sorry. Write responses on the board. (For not respecting indigenous cultures and helping them to grow and survive after colonisation. For trying to force Indigenous Australians to become European. For the laws and policies put in place which disadvantaged Indigenous Australians. For the Stolen Generation.)
•
Ask them what we are trying to achieve by Sorry Day. Write responses on the board. (The healing of our nation, reconciliation, unity and harmony.)
•
Ask them when the first Sorry Day was and why we haven’t had a Sorry Day before this time. Write this information on the board. (1998 – previous Australian governments have refused to say sorry.)
•
Show the students images created for previous Sorry Days. Discuss as a class how they show unity, healing and how they say sorry. (The joining of hands, using Aboriginal colours, written text, symbols of Indigenous and nonIndigenous Australians side-by-side, feet walking together, bridges, bandaids, etc.)
•
Ask students to create their own Sorry Day image to market Sorry Day. They should include some of the information that is already on the board and include a caption, such as, Healing the Nation.
•
Discuss what happens in the students’ local area on Sorry Day. Ask students to record the events that have happened by writing and/or drawing.
•
Ask the students to create an invitation to their own Sorry Day celebration, using the information on the board. Extension Activity: •
Students could also examine NAIDOC Week, National Reconciliation Week and MABO Day.
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History of Australia
Sorry Day
Activity Page
This is a Ready-Ed Publications' book preview. My Sorry Day Image
Create your own Sorry Day image to market Sorry Day. Include a caption.
Caption: __________________________________________
Write or Draw
Write or draw the things that happen in your local area on Sorry Day.
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Use the back of the page to create an invitation to your own Sorry Day celebration. 27
This is a Ready-Ed Publications' book preview. Section 2: Expansion of the Colonies
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Teachers’ Notes
Brave Explorers
This is a Ready-Ed Publications' book preview. •
Read out the information at the top of the sheet.
•
Tell students that by 1820, most of the available land within a 250 kilometre reach of Sydney had been taken up for farming and grazing. Explorers went in search of more land suitable to farm.
•
Before students look at the source, discuss as a class the hardships that explorers of inland Australia would have endured: 1. Many explorers were attacked by Indigenous Australians who feared that they would lose more land to the colonisers. 2. Horses became tired and died as they needed regular water supply and were not able to cope with the heat and constant travel. 3. Many men suffered heat exhaustion and found it difficult to find water and food. There are reports of men eating dingo, emu and snake to survive. 4. The terrain was rugged and hard to pass, many men and horses fell on rocky terrain. Some men were forced to wade through thick marshes. 5. Men frequently lost their way. 6. Men often ran out of supplies quicker than they had anticipated.
•
Draw students’ attention to the source on the activity sheet. By looking at the source, students should deduce that many explorers did not return from their expeditions because: they were attacked by Indigenous Australians who perceived them as a threat, they suffered heat exhaustion, they lost their way because the terrain was so vast and similar in its appearance, they found the terrain difficult to travel across.
•
The source tells us that explorers travelled on foot, by horse and by camel. Tell students that in the 1800s many explorers began to travel by camel rather than by horse because camels were more suited to the Australian climate and harsh conditions than horses. Camels also did not need a regular supply of water and didn’t tire as easily as horses in the heat. Extension Activities: •
Students can write a journal entry from the point of view of a famous Australian explorer detailing the hardships of travelling inland in Australia.
•
Students can write a journal entry from the point of view of an Indigenous Australian on seeing European explorers.
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•
Students can create their own illustration which details some of the hardships that explorers faced on their travels in the 1800s.
•
Display the students’ sources in the classroom.
29
History of Australia
Brave Explorers
Activity Page
This is a Ready-Ed Publications' book preview. • By the early 1800s, the British had set up many colonies in Australia. They were keen however, to set up more.
• They needed to find new areas of land on which to build more colonies. • Many brave men set out to discover these new lands. • Many of these men were never seen again.
Look at this source.
The Burke and Wills Expedition crossing the desert. State Library of Victoria.
1. How does the source explain why many men did not return from journeys of exploration? ______________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________
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______________________________________________________________ 2. According to the source, what three ways did explorers travel?
______________________________________________________________ 30
Teachers’ Notes
Captain Charles Sturt
This is a Ready-Ed Publications' book preview. •
Read out the information at the top of the page and ask the students to complete the activities.
•
By looking at the source, students should deduce that Charles Sturt and his men were threatened by Indigenous Australians on their travels.
•
Students might suggest that Indigenous Australians felt threatened by Sturt and his men because: they were not known to them, they were armed, they feared that they would spoil and claim the land on which they lived.
•
When students have completed the activity sheet, you may like to provide them with further information about Sturt and his adventures (listed below).
Timeline for Sturt’s Expeditions 1828-1829 Followed the Macquarie River to the Macquarie Marshes. Headed north, then west to cross the Castlereagh and Bogan rivers. Explored a flowing river (The Darling) for 64 kilometres until it turned into a dry riverbed. 1829-1830 Traced the Murrumbidgee River until it joined with the Murray River. Discovered that the Murray flowed into the ocean at Lake Alexandrina. Sturt and his party rowed over 2,900 kilometres along the rivers. 1838
Sturt trekked overland from Sydney to Adelaide with 300 head of cattle in 40 days. He proved that the “Hume” River was actually the Murray River.
1844-1846 Last attempt to find inland sea. Followed the Darling River to Milparinka to head into central Australia. Discovered the Grey, Stokes and Barrier Ranges, the Diamantina River and Eyre and Cooper Creeks. Pressed on to the Stony (now Sturt) Desert and reached the Simpson Desert. Could not pass the nine metre high sand hills so Sturt was forced to turn back to Adelaide. Sturt’s Contribution to Australian Exploration Sturt’s expeditions added greatly to the geographical knowledge of Australia. He settled the question once and for all that there was no inland sea, only immense inland deserts. He found out that the Darling and Murrumbidgee both ran into the Murray River and that the Murray emptied into the Southern Ocean at Lake Alexandrina. He navigated the rivers by boat and demonstrated that people and goods could be transported on these waterways. Sturt loved exploring but he paid a high price for his discoveries. He almost lost his sight and suffered ill-health for the rest of his life. He also witnessed the death of his right-hand man and friend, James Poole, from scurvy on the trek back from the heart of Australia.
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31
History of Australia
Captain Charles Sturt
Activity Page
This is a Ready-Ed Publications' book preview. • Captain Charles Sturt was an Australian explorer who went on many journeys of exploration between 1828 and 1829.
• He came across many rivers inland of Sydney and proved that they could be used to transport people and goods.
Historical Source: National Library of Australia
• These rivers were: the Castlereagh River, the Macquarie River, the Bogan River, the Darling River, the Murray River, the Murrumbidgee River and the Lachlan River. • Sturt became very ill on one of his expeditions and partly lost his sight. Many of his men, including his close friend James Poole, were lost to scurvy on their travels. Join the rivers on the map to show where Sturt explored.
Castlereagh R Macquarie R Darling R
Bogan R
Sydney Lachlan R
Murrumbidgee R Murray R
Look closely at the historical source at the top of the page. It is a picture of Charles Sturt and his men on one of his expeditions. 1. What difficulty does it show that he and his men faced? ___________________________________________________________
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2. Why do you think the Aborigines felt threatened by Sturt and his men? ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ 32
Teachers’ Notes
Other Explorers
This is a Ready-Ed Publications' book preview. Sheet 1 •
Read out the information at the top of the sheet.
•
Read through the problems that Ludwig Leichhardt experienced. Tell the students that Leichhardt was an inexperienced explorer which is most probably why he ran into so many problems on his expeditions.
•
The Colonial Office would not give him authorisation to travel from Brisbane to Darwin, so he funded the trip himself.
•
He set off on his trip on 1st October in 1844 with nine men, 17 horses, 16 bullocks, flour, tea and sugar. Only six men completed the journey.
•
The students can then write individual letters imagining that they are Leichhardt.
Sheet 2 •
Read out the information at the top of the sheet.
•
Help the students to mark Gregory Blaxland’s, William Wentworth’s and William Lawson’s journey on the map and create a key to show where exactly they travelled from and to. You could then tell the students the story of the crossing of the Blue Mountains detailed below.
Further information on the crossing of the Blue Mountains: •
George Blaxland, William Wentworth and William Lawson were the first men to cross the Blue Mountains. They were three free settlers who were wealthy landowners. Six other explorers had tried before them to cross the 1,000 metre high walls of rock. All failed.
•
The men wanted to cross the Blue Mountains to find new land to farm. In 1813 there was a bad drought in Australia and the increasing population struggled to find sufficient food. The demand for new land to farm was highly sought after at his time.
•
The men set off in 1813 and took with them three convicts, an indigenous tracker, four pack horses, five dogs and supplies of salted meat, flour, tents, hand guns, compasses and tools for cutting.
•
On the other side of the Blue Mountains they found “forest land all around them sufficient to feed the stock of the colony for the next thirty years”.
•
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•
The crossing of the Blue Mountains allowed settlers to move into the western plains of New South Wales and new colonies were established. On the men’s return, Governor Macquarie presented them with a gift of 1,000 acres of the newly discovered land.
33
History of Australia
Other Explorers 1
Activity Page
This is a Ready-Ed Publications' book preview. • Ludwig Leichhardt was the first European to travel from Brisbane to Darwin. • He came across many rivers which could provide a great water source for more colonies and described the land as suitable for farming. • In 1848 he vanished without a trace on an inland expedition. Leichhardt experienced many problems on his first journey in 1844. Some were: • he ran out of food; • he frequently got lost; • he had two teeth knocked out in a fight; • his horses drowned after crossing Roper River; • Indigenous Australians attacked his party wounding two men and killing another. National Library of Australia
Imagine that you are Leichhardt on your first expedition. Write a letter to your wife telling her about your day. _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________
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What do you think happened to Leichhardt on his final expedition?
___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ 34
History of Australia
Other Explorers 2
Activity Page
This is a Ready-Ed Publications' book preview. 1813
Gregory Blaxland, William Wentworth and William Lawson set off from St Mary’s in Sydney’s west and crossed the Blue Mountains.
1827
John Oxley’s exploration of the Brisbane River led to the establishment of Moreton Bay as a convict colony.
1828-9
Hamilton Hume and William Hovell crossed the Murray River and discovered excellent farming land as they travelled south to Port Phillip.
1844-1846
Edward John Eyre crossed the Great Australian Bight.
Draw different coloured lines to mark the explorers’ travels on the map. Create a key to show each explorer’s travels. NORTHERN TERRITORY
WESTERN AUSTRALIA
QUEENSLAND
Brisbane
SOUTH AUSTRALIA
Brisbane River Moreton Bay
Great Australian Bight
Murray River
ntain Blue
Mou
Bathurst
s
NEW SOUTH WALES St Mary's Parramatta
Sydney
Port Phillip
VICTORIA
Key:
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Teachers’ Notes
Indigenous Guides and Trackers
This is a Ready-Ed Publications' book preview. •
Tell the students that it was not long before European explorers realised that they could not explore inland Australia without the help of Indigenous Australians. Indigenous Australians who accompanied European explorers on journeys of exploration became known as indigenous guides and trackers. These guides and trackers had a knowledge of the land that had been built up over hundreds of generations and children learned the art of guiding and tracking from a young age.
•
Read the information out at the top of the activity sheet.
•
Ask the students to look at the first source. Tell them that it depicts the indigenous tracker Wylie guiding the European explorer Edward John Eyre on an epic trek across the Nullabor Plain from Fowler’s Bay to Albany in 1840 to 1841. Tell the students that Wylie’s tracking skills kept them both alive on this incredible journey and prevented them both from dying of starvation and heat exhaustion.
•
Explain to the students that the second source is based on the well-known indigenous guide and tracker Mokare. Mokare was a Nyungar man who accompanied various explorers in the early days of colonisation in the Albany region of Western Australia. In 1821, Mokare guided Phillip Parker King on his expedition to King George Sound. Mokare informed the military garrison in Albany about indigenous customs and beliefs and this resulted in a peaceful relationship between the two groups.
•
Ask the students to complete the activity individually.
•
After students have completed the activity, you might like to tell them about another well-known indigenous tracker, Tommy Windich. Tell them that Windich accompanied many explorers on expeditions. He attempted to track Ludwig Leichhardt who vanished without a trace in the Australian desert. He guided John Forest on most of his expeditions before dying of pneumonia. John Forrest said of him, “His name is almost a household word in this colony.... I feel that I have lost an old and well tried companion and friend”.
•
Students could choose to do further research on one indigenous tracker.
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History of Australia
Indigenous Guides and Trackers
Activity Page
This is a Ready-Ed Publications' book preview. • Many European explorers only survived with the help of Indigenous Australians, who knew the land well and had endured the harsh conditions for many years. • Their ability to ‘track’ water and food in the desert and ‘track’ missing people in the outback was excellent.
• Indigenous trackers also helped to keep the peace between European explorers and Indigenous Australians when travelling through tribal areas. Study the two sources below.
State Library of Victoria
Source 1
The tracker Mokare stared at the ground and told the white explorers that a kangaroo had passed by minutes earlier. He could read the footprints and tell how old they were. Within minutes Mokare returned with a kangaroo big enough to last them for two days. He skinned and cooked it and shared it among the explorers. By midday Mokare led them in the direction of a flock of birds which they could see from some distance. Underneath the birds was a fresh pool of water.
Source 2 Use the sources to create a poem or image which celebrates the skills of trackers.
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Teachers’ Notes
Discovering Gold
This is a Ready-Ed Publications' book preview. Sheet 1 •
Read out the information at the top of the sheet and then ask students to complete the tasks individually.
•
Students should place a 1 by Bathurst on the map and note that gold was mainly found in inland areas of Australia.
Sheet 2 •
Read out the information at the top of the sheet.
•
Students may deduce from looking at Source 1 that the miners lived in very basic cramped conditions with little privacy and that their shelter was either a tent or a bark hut. The source also shows that they collected their own water from underground wells and that the men travelled by foot. There are no women in the picture which reveals that it was a male dominated environment and suggests that it was a fairly lonely existence.
•
Source 2 shows that the miners travelled from place to place frequently and were never in one spot for long. It reveals that their methods of transportation were foot and horse and cart. It also informs us that they had few belongings and their tools were quite basic. Again it shows that the miners lived in basic tents and were male.
•
Answers to the questions are: false, false, true, true, false, false.
If you wish to research the famous Eureka Stockade with your students, the following background information might help get you started. •
All gold miners needed a licence to dig for gold. Many miners believed that the licence fees were too high and their frustrations led to what is today famously known as the Eureka Stockade.
•
At 3am on Sunday the 3rd December 1854, a party of 276 police and military personnel approached the Eureka Stockade and a battle between them and disgruntled miners ensued. No one is certain which side fired first, but the battle was violent, brief and one-sided. The miners were defeated within ten minutes. The exact number of deaths and injuries were difficult to determine but the official register of deaths in the Ballarat District Register shows 27 names.
•
On the 16th November 1854, Governor Hotham appointed a Royal Commission on goldfield problems and frustrations. It was critical of the administration of the goldfields and especially of the Eureka Stockade battle. As a result, gold licenses were abolished and replaced by an annual miner’s right and an export fee based on the value of gold found.
•
38
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Many historians have associated the Eureka Stockade with the beginning of a democracy in Australia.
History of Australia
Discovering Gold 1
Activity Page
This is a Ready-Ed Publications' book preview. • Gold was found in Australia before 1850, but the government kept any gold that was found before this time a secret because they did not want men and women to leave their jobs and rush off to look for gold. • Eventually, rewards were given by the government to people who found gold because the country needed the money that gold brought.
• In 1851 gold was found in Bathurst in New South Wales by a group led by Edward Hargraves. He received a £10,000 reward from the government. This discovery started a gold rush and gold was soon found all over Australia. Gold Rush Locations
Look at the map. 1. Write a 1 by the place where gold was discovered in 1851. 2. Look at all the other places where gold was found on the map. 3. Was gold found mainly near the coast or inland areas?
•
Charters Towers
•
• Petermann
Gympie
Ranges
Kalgoorlie
••
Coolgardie
• Norseman
• Broken Hill Bathurst
•
Bendigo
Clunes
• •Ballarat •
____________________ Imagine that you are Edward Hargraves and have just found gold. Tweet on Twitter to announce your discovery. Twitter
Search
Name: Edward Hargraves Tweet: _________________________________________________
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_______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________
39
History of Australia
Discovering Gold 2
Activity Page
This is a Ready-Ed Publications' book preview. • People from England, Ireland, Germany, Italy, Europe, America and China soon arrived to make their fortune finding gold in Australia. • Most knew nothing about mining and had poor equipment and tools. • Life on the goldfields was not easy. There was little transport, food and shelter. • Miners moved from place to place as new gold rushes were discovered.
Look closely at the sources below. On the back of this sheet say what each one tells you about how men lived on the goldfields.
Source 1: Gold Digging, National Library of Australia
Source 2: Gold Digging in Victoria, National Library of Australia
Use the information on this page and on P39 to complete the activity. 1. Gold was first discovered in 1950.
True False
2. Edward Hargraves found gold at Bathurst himself. True False 3. Hargraves was given a £10,000 reward.
True False
4. Hargraves’ discovery started a gold rush.
True False
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5. Life on the goldfields was easy.
True False
6. The miners stayed in one place for a long time.
True False
40
This is a Ready-Ed Publications' book preview. Section 3: Australian Bushrangers
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Teachers’ Notes
Bushrangers
This is a Ready-Ed Publications' book preview. Sheet 1 •
Read out the information at the top of the page.
•
Tell students that initially bushrangers were escaped convicts (known as ‘bolters’) who committed crimes to stay alive. The first known bushranger was escaped convict Black Caesar. He stole food and clothing and eventually was shot for a reward of five gallons of rum in Sydney.
•
Folksongs, films and other narrative forms, often glorify bushrangers and depict them as heroic victims of cruel circumstances. Their skills in bushcraft, knowledge of the bush, horsemanship, daring, gallantry and their wild, free and defiant natures are focused on. However bushrangers did commit serious crimes and were usually heavily armed. Most bushrangers were brought to justice. However police did generally have difficulty catching them as many people misinformed police of their whereabouts, being either supporters of the bushrangers or fearing them. Bushrangers also moved about a lot in isolated areas which made them difficult to catch.
•
Bushranging boomed during the Gold Rush in the 1850s and 60s. The isolated goldfields made the bushrangers’ tasks easier as did the fact that many police offices abandoned their duties to look for gold.
•
Ask students to complete the activities on the sheet.
•
From looking at the source, students might deduce that members of the public are capturing Power as they are dressed in plain clothes. Students may claim that the source tells us that Power was a wanted man and that the reward for his capture was a high figure. Other responses may be that Power hid in derelict sheds and outbuildings and lived in basic conditions. The saddle suggests he travelled by horse and his gun tells us that he was armed.
Sheet 2 •
Read out the information at the top of the sheet. Then ask students to complete the activity.
1. Students should identify the bushranger as the figure on the horse. 2. The bushranger is holding up a small village/he is shooting at the townspeople and looks to have already shot the man on the floor. He is creating fear and terror in the townspeople suggested by the figure seen inside the house and the other man waving his arms in despair.
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3. The bushranger is portrayed as a villain.
4. The townspeople are petrified of the bushranger. Most are trying to escape from him. One man is unable to escape possibly due to an injury.
42
History of Australia
Bushrangers 1
Activity Page
This is a Ready-Ed Publications' book preview. • Bushrangers were men who lived in the bush and robbed and killed other people to make a living. • Most were declared ‘outlaws’ by the police. This gave any member of the public the power to kill them. • Bushranging was common in Australia from 1790 to 1900.
Bushrangers disguised themselves by winding scarves around their necks and faces. Some tied cotton around their heads with holes cut in for their eyes. Others blackened their faces. Draw disguises on the bushrangers below.
Look closely at the source below right. It shows how Harry Power, a well-known bushranger, was captured. 1. Who do you think is capturing him? __________________________________ __________________________________ 2. What does the source tell us about Power and how he lived?
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National Library of Australia
__________________________________ __________________________________
43
History of Australia
Bushrangers 2
Activity Page
• Bushrangers used the term ‘bail up’ for ‘stick ‘em up’ which was originally used to describe part of the process of fixing harnesses on bullock teams. It required a person to raise both arms to do up the straps. • In the 1880s and 1900s, bushrangers began to die out. The increased number of colonies, more police, improvements in rail transport and communication technology, made it difficult for bushrangers to avoid being captured.
Historical source. National Library of Australia
This is a Ready-Ed Publications' book preview.
Look closely at the historical source above and answer the questions. 1. Which figure do you think is the bushranger? ___________________________________________________________ 2. What is the bushranger doing? ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ 3. Is he portrayed as a villain or a hero in this picture? ___________________________________________________________ 4. How are the townspeople reacting to the bushranger? ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________
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5. What do you think of Australian bushrangers?
___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ 44
Teachers’ Notes
John Donohoe
This is a Ready-Ed Publications' book preview. •
Read out the information at the top of the sheet. Tell students that John Donohoe led a gang which terrorised the area around Liverpool and the Hunter Valley from 1826 to 1830. The poem The Wild Colonial Boy was composed in 1831 and became so popular with the convicts and lower classes of Sydney that the authorities banned it.
•
Read out the second and third verses of the poem on the activity sheet. If you wish to read out the whole poem the other verses are below. ‘Tis of a Wild Colonial Boy, Jack Doolan was his name, Of poor but honest parents he was born in Castlemaine. He was his father’s only hope, his mother’s pride and joy, And dearly did his parents love the Wild Colonial Boy. Chorus Come, all my hearties, we’ll roam the mountains high, Together we will plunder, together we will die. We’ll wander over valleys, and gallop over plains, And we’ll scorn to live in slavery, bound down with iron chains. He bade the judge “Good morning”, and told him to beware, That he’d never rob a hearty chap that acted on the square, And never to rob a mother of her son and only joy, Or else you might turn outlaw, like the Wild Colonial Boy. One day as he was riding the mountain-side along, A-listening to the little birds, their pleasant laughing song, Three mounted troopers rode along - Kelly, Davis and FitzRoy They thought that they would capture him, the Wild Colonial Boy. “Surrender now, Jack Doolan, you see there’s three to one. Surrender now, Jack Doolan, you’re a daring highwayman.” He drew a pistol from his belt, and shook the little toy, “I’ll fight, but not surrender,” said the Wild Colonial Boy.
1. The poem cites Donohoe’s crimes as robbing the wealthy, destroying their stock and holding up a mail-coach to rob Judge MacEvoy. 2. The line, ‘And a terror to Australia was the Wild Colonial Boy’ tells us that he was feared. 3. We are told that he was ‘daring’, ‘knew no danger’ and feared nobody ‘no foeman did he fear’.
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4. He was probably referred to as ‘wild’ because he did not obey the law and was rebellious. ‘Colonial boy’ means that he lived in colonial times.
45
History of Australia
John Donohoe
Activity Page
This is a Ready-Ed Publications' book preview. • Many folk songs have been written about bushrangers.
• The Wild Colonial Boy is a bush ballad written about John Donohoe a famous Irish bushranger. • It can be treated as a secondary piece of evidence. The Wild Colonial Boy He was scarcely sixteen years of age when he left his father’s home, And through Australia’s sunny clime a bushranger did roam. He robbed those wealthy squatters, their stock he did destroy, And a terror to Australia was the Wild Colonial Boy. In sixty-one this daring youth commenced his wild career, With a heart that knew no danger, no foeman did he fear. He stuck up the Beechworth mail-coach, and robbed Judge MacEvoy, Who trembled, and gave up his gold to the Wild Colonial Boy.
Read the ballad and answer the questions. 1. List Donohoe’s crimes. ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ 2. What line tells you that he was feared? ___________________________________________________________ 3. What are we told about his character? ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________
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4. Why do you think he was known as the wild colonial boy?
___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ 46
Teachers’ Notes
Frank Gardiner
This is a Ready-Ed Publications' book preview. •
Read out the information at the top of the page.
•
Before instructing students to complete the activity, you could provide them with more information about Gardiner and his crimes to help them with their posters: -
Frank Gardiner was born in Goulburn, Victoria in 1830, the son of a free settler.
-
He started stealing cattle at the age of 19 and was soon in gaol.
-
In 1861 he teamed up with another bushranger and together they committed many robberies.
-
Many of these robberies involved holding up coaches on the highways and Gardiner soon became known as ‘King of the Road’. He even managed to rob the guests at an inn when he dropped in for a drink.
-
His gang was responsible for the notorious Eugowra Escort Coach Robbery The coach held gold found by diggers on the goldfields and made regular trips to Sydney where the gold was stored in bank vaults.
-
His gang got away with gold worth £28,000. This amount is equivalent to millions of pounds today.
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History of Australia
Frank Gardiner
Activity Page
This is a Ready-Ed Publications' book preview. • Frank Gardiner became a bushranger in 1861. • He was responsible for holding up coaches on highways and became known as ‘King of the Road’. • He was most wanted for the Eugowra Coach Robbery because he and his gang stole £28,000. • After this robbery he escaped to Queensland but was captured and served 10 years in gaol. The gold was never found.
Create a wanted poster for Gardiner.
Wanted
Crime(s):
Reward:
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Teachers’ Notes
Ben Hall
This is a Ready-Ed Publications' book preview. •
Read out the information at the top of the sheet.
•
Before instructing the students to complete the activities you could provide them with some more information about Ben Hall: -
Hall wasn’t highly educated although he could read and write. In his youth he was thought to be an honest, hard working stockman and farmer. Despite Hall’s good reputation though, he associated with thieves and bushrangers and in particular with Frank Gardiner.
-
Hall’s troubles began in 1862, when he was wrongly arrested for highway robbery and spent a month in gaol. During this time, police struggled to gather any evidence to formally charge him and he was released. When released Hall returned to his house to find that it had been vandalised and burnt down and that his cattle had been either killed or stolen. To make things worse his wife had run away with an expoliceman, taking their child with them. Ben Hall wanted revenge.
-
Hall armed himself and joined Frank Gardiner’s gang, taking part in the infamous Eugowra Robbery on June 15th, 1862. Shortly after this robbery the gang separated and Hall took over as its leader. Over the next three years Hall’s gang was responsible for several highway robberies and raids on towns, banks, stores and inns in the Lachlan Plains area. The police were determined to catch the Ben Hall gang but they had little success.
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On one occasion the gang raided the town of Canowindra. They rode in and herded all of the town’s horses together so that no one could ride off to find the police. The gang threw a party in Robinson’s Hotel, buying drinks for everyone as well as cigars for the men and sweets for the ladies. Soon the town was drinking and dancing with the bushrangers and this only served to make the police even more angry. The gang bailed up Canowindra for three days and by the time the police arrived, the gang had moved on. Hall boasted that, “They’ll never hang Ben Hall”.
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Ask students to look at the source. Students should deduce that Ben Hall was a wanted man and that he was eventually shot by a team of police suggested by the many uniformed men with firearms in the source. The source implies that Hall was shot in the back and had little chance of escape. When he died he was running away from the police and did not have time to draw his own firearm and fire back, which may suggest that the police took him by surprise.
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After they have responded to the source tell them that on May 5th, 1865 Ben Hall was tricked by a “friend” who had offered him shelter. Mick Connolly was tempted by the £2,000 reward and told police of Hall’s whereabouts. The police gunned Hall down but as he lay on the ground, Hall asked a former friend, Billy Dargin, to shoot him dead as he did not want the police to take him alive. It was thought that there were at least 30 bullets in his body.
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49
History of Australia
Ben Hall
Activity Page
This is a Ready-Ed Publications' book preview. • Ben Hall was born to convict parents in 1837.
• He took part in the infamous Eugowra Coach Robbery with the bushranger Frank Gardiner.
• He was also responsible for raids on towns, banks, stores and inns in the Lachlan Plains area.
Look at the source. What does it show happened to Ben Hall? _____________________________________ _____________________________________
_____________________________________ _____________________________________
Imagine that you were at one of the banks that Hall raided. Create two secondary sources by describing the event and creating an illustration to capture the events. Continue writing on the back of this sheet if you need more room. ______________________________________ ______________________________________ ______________________________________ ______________________________________ ______________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________
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_______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________ 50
Wikimedia Commons
_____________________________________
Teachers’ Notes
Ned Kelly
This is a Ready-Ed Publications' book preview. Sheet 1 •
Read out the information at the top of the sheet, then ask the students to complete the activities.
Certificate of Birth Name: Ned Kelly Date of Birth: 1854 Place of Birth: Victoria Nationality: Australian Gender: Male Father: John ‘Red’ Kelly Nationality: Irish Mother: Ellen Kelly Nationality: Irish
Criminal Record Age/Year: 14 years of age in 1869 Crime(s): Assaulting a Chinese farmer Charges: Ten days in gaol Age/Year: 1870 Crime(s): Possessing a stolen horse Charges: Three years in gaol Age/Year: October 1878 Crime(s): Killing three policemen Charges: Hanged
Sheet 2 •
Read out the information at the top of the sheet, then ask students to study the source. 1. The police could have shot Ned Kelly in the arms or legs because these are the parts that his armour did not cover. 2. Ned Kelly’s armour would have protected most of his body during the many battles in which he was involved. 3. The armour weighed 90lbs so may have been heavy to wear and restricted mobility and speed in certain circumstances.
•
Draw students’ attention to the second source. 4. It tells us that Ned Kelly was a man who was in trouble with the law and appeared in court to face criminal charges.
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History of Australia
Ned Kelly 1
Activity Page
This is a Ready-Ed Publications' book preview. • Ned Kelly is the most well-known and possibly best loved bushranger in Australian history. • He was born in 1854 in Victoria. • His father, John ‘Red’ Kelly, was an ex-convict from Ireland who was transported to Australia for stealing two pigs. • His mother, Ellen Kelly, was also born in Ireland and migrated to Melbourne in 1841.
Complete Ned Kelly’s birth certificate. Certificate of Birth Name: __________________________________________ Date of Birth: ____________________________________ Place of Birth: ___________________________________ Nationality:______________________________________ Gender: _________________________________________ Father: _________________________________________ Nationality:______________________________________ Mother: ________________________________________ Nationality:______________________________________
• Ned Kelly had his first brush with the law at 14 in 1869. He was arrested for assaulting a Chinese farmer and spent ten days in gaol. • The next year he was gaoled for three years for possessing a stolen horse. • In October 1878, Ned killed three policemen at Stringybark Creek. He was captured and hanged on November 11th in 1880 aged 25. Complete Ned Kelly’s criminal record.
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Age/Year: _________________________
Age/Year: _________________________
Crime(s): _________________________
Crime(s): _________________________
Charges: __________________________
Charges: __________________________
52
History of Australia
Ned Kelly 2
Activity Page
This is a Ready-Ed Publications' book preview. • Ned Kelly is fondly remembered by many Australians. • Many people believe that the police victimised him and unfairly blamed him for anything that went wrong in the town. • He is often referred to as an ‘Aussie battler’ who stood up to authorities.
Look at Source 1 below right. 1. When Ned Kelly was captured where do you think the police shot him? ___________________________________ 2. What do you think would have been the advantages of wearing this armour? ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ 3. What do you think would have been the disadvantages of wearing this armour?
Source 1: Ned Kelly’s Homemade armour
___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ Look closely at Source 2. 4. What does it tell us about Ned Kelly? ___________________________________ ___________________________________
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___________________________________ ___________________________________
Source 2: Wikimedia Commons 53
This is a Ready-Ed Publications' book preview. Section 4: The Whole Story
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History of Australia
Create a History of Australia Box
Activity Page
This is a Ready-Ed Publications' book preview. Decorate the box by following the numbered steps.
1
2
3
Australian History 4 1. Draw an indigenous hunting or gathering tool.
Once you have decorated your box…
2. Draw and label a Dutch ship. 3. Draw the outline of Australia and mark and label where Cook landed with the British flag. 4. Draw nuggets of gold to represent the gold rushes.
• Cut out the box and fold tabs along the dashed lines. 5
• Glue the sides together to create a box.
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5. Decorate the name of a famous bushranger.
55
Memory Game In pairs, cut out the cards and turn them face down. Take turns turning each card over to create a pair. You can create your own cards to add to these.
Activity Page
This is a Ready-Ed Publications' book preview.
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History of Australia
Slices of History
Activity Page
This is a Ready-Ed Publications' book preview. Australian history is like a pizza. Its many slices represent different events that make up the whole story. In each pizza slice draw a symbol to represent a part of Australian history.
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History of Australia
Start
17
16
15
l store Your loca held has beenn Hall. up by Be Start. o Return t
1
2 19 You have been granted a ticket of leave. Move forward a space.
14
3
20
You have just crossed the Blue Mountains. Move forward a space.
13
Australian History Board Game
18
This is a Ready-Ed Publications' book preview. been You have to sentenced rs seven yea ion. at transport urn. Miss a t
4
Your coach has been held up by Frank Gardiner’s gang. Go back a space.
Finish
12
11
5
You have lost an explorer on an expedition. Go back three spaces to find him.
6
7
9
Y o u have fou n d gold Thr ! o w agai n.
8
Yo con u are a Firstvict on th F forw leet. Sa e il ar spac d two es.
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10
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Activity Page
Australian History Board Game