15. The British opened other colonies, leading to other conflicts
In 1803 a British settlement was established in Van Diemen’s Land (Tasmania). A military attachment was sent in response to reported French exploration of the area, and the colony was quickly peopled by free settlers and convicts. The following year it was split into separate counties, Cornwall and Buckingham. Neither maintained friendly relations with the natives they encountered very long. As in so many other examples throughout history, the European expansion threatened the way of life of the natives, destroyed their traditional food sources, and ignored their customs and spiritual beliefs. The settlers of Van Diemen’s land needed pasture for sheep and cattle, and they simply took it.
The result was the Black War, which was fought for nearly a decade between the settlers and the natives and left over two hundred British settlers and soldiers dead. Between 600 and 900 natives were killed in the conflict. It wasn’t entirely over land that the attacks on settlers were launched in the early days of the conflict. Convicts frequently “escaped” temporarily, attacking and raping native women, a fact which was admitted more than once by colonial authorities to the Colonial Office in London. It was another way the policy of transporting convicts disrupted the colonies in Australia, leading to difficulties and tragedies for all concerned.