Colonial Australia’s foundation is stained with the profits of British slavery | Paul Daley

Submitted by Paul Daley on Fri, 21/09/2018 - 3:34pm

A dive into the hidden histories of Australia’s early settlers shows the country wasn’t just built on the sheep’s back

As the decades shed ever more light on colonialism’s brutal treatment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, Australia has sought reassurance that at least, unlike Britain and America, our history is not marred with the heinous stain of the Caribbean and African slave trade.

But groundbreaking historical research must now give pause for reconsideration. It transpires that some of the scions of colonial society established themselves in Australia with wealth earned through slavery and official compensation for the loss of income from it when the British government eventually abolished the trade in dark-skinned humans.