Black Founders

In this compelling new book, distinguished historian and writer Cassandra Pybus reveals that black convicts were among our first fleet settlers a fact which profoundly complicates our understanding of race relations in early colonial Australia. Most of these black founders were originally slaves from America who had sought freedom with the British during the American Revolution only to find themselves abandoned and unemployed in England when the war was over. Pybus stories include the notorious runaway Black Caesar, who became our first bushranger, and the wonderfully subversive Billie Blue, who was the first ferryman on Sydney Harbour, after whom Blues Point is named

Ancient history · Archaeology · Art history · Blues · Colonialism · First world war · Genealogy · Performance art · Racism · Sociology · Australian History and Society · Gender Studies · History · 1788-1900 · Africans · Australasian & Pacific history · Australia · Black studies · Discrimination & Racism · Europe - Austria & Hungary · History - General History · History: World