American Citizens, British Slaves Yankee Political Prisoners in an Australian Penal Colony 1839-1850 |
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| Author:
| Pybus, Cassandra
Maxwell-Stewart, Hamish |
| ISBN: | 978-0-87013-623-8 |
| Publication Date: | Oct 2002 |
| Publisher: | Michigan State University Press
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| Book Format: | Paperback |
| List Price: | USD $29.95 |
Book Description:
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In 1840, eighty-two Americans were transported from Canada to a life of penal servitude half a world away in Van Diemen's Land, now Tasmania. As members of the Patriot Army that had conducted border raids into the colony of Upper Canada in 1838, they saw themselves as courageous republican activists, impelled by a moral duty to liberate their northern neighbors from British oppression. From these interlocking accounts, Cassandra Pybus and Hamish Maxwell-Stewart have...
More Description
In 1840, eighty-two Americans were transported from Canada to a life of penal servitude half a world away in Van Diemen's Land, now Tasmania. As members of the Patriot Army that had conducted border raids into the colony of Upper Canada in 1838, they saw themselves as courageous republican activists, impelled by a moral duty to liberate their northern neighbors from British oppression. From these interlocking accounts, Cassandra Pybus and Hamish Maxwell-Stewart have constructed a compelling story of the Patriots' experiences as convicts, drawing also on unpublished letters, newspaper reports, and government archives. This story of political exile and punishment provides a window into the everyday life of the many thousands of forgotten men and women who endured the calculated cruelties of penal transportation.