Ep 25 – Resisting the invasion of Sydney, 1788 – 1817

About this episode

This episode discusses the resistance of Aboriginal people to the British invasion of Sydney from 1788 to 1817 with historian Stephen Gapps.

The idea that Australia was invaded in 1788 is strangely controversial. A Google search for the phrase ‘Was Australia invaded’ provides an AI-generated answer claiming that ‘Australia has not experienced a full-scale foreign military invasion of its mainland’. The Wikipedia history of Australia makes no mention of invasion or indeed any warfare between between Aboriginal nations and the colonisers at all, and large numbers of articles ask ‘Was Australia invaded in 1788?’ as if the issue is somehow not obvious. At the time the British Empire invaded Australia in 1788 however, no one was in any doubt as to what was happening. The first convicts came ashore escorted by a significant body of armed troops, the first structure built in the colony was a military one, and colonial authorities constantly referred to the fact that they were at war. For their part, Aboriginal people quickly realised that they were dealing with a military invasion of their land, and fought back heroically. In this episode, we chat with historian Stephen Gapps, author of the pioneering book The Sydney Wars , about First Nations’ resistance to the invasion of Sydney…

People in this episode

Guest: Stephen Gapps

Topics covered

• Aboriginal resistance
• colonial history
• military invasion
• First Nations
• Sydney Wars
• historical conflict

Keywords

• Australia
• invasion
• Aboriginal
• colonisers
• military
• history
• conflict
• resistance

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: British Empire

Books & works: The Sydney Wars

Places: Sydney