Australia and the World Past and Present

The history of blackbirding in Australia has become more widely known in recent years.

It is natural for people to draw comparisons with the institution of slavery in the US.

There are similarities but there also differences.

Both were a form of exploitation and human subjugation linked to a particular economic rationale.

Both practices were linked to racial ideologies.

The Atlantic slave trade existed from the 16th to the 19th century, transporting slaves from Africa to plantations in the south of the United States.

Blackbirding in Australia had a much shorter history with the practice emerging in the mid 19th century.

Blackbirding was also much more geographically contained than slavery in the US.

It was found mainly in the northern state of Queensland and it was linked to a particular cash crop – sugar cane.

Slavery in the US was not confined to one state. It was common among multiple states in the South and it was a key issue in the formation of some new states. The question of whether a new state would be a establish slave or free threatened to tear communities apart and in time it would lead to the American Civil War.

In the history of black birding one can find examples of coercion as well as deception. Sometimes there was kidnapping too.

Pacific Islanders brought to Australia under the practice were called ‘Kanakas’.

Black birding was not legally recognised as slavery and was seen as a form of indentured labor.

Often contracts were signed between Kanakas and those responsible for their transportation. But whether those contracts were adequately understood or signed free of an imbalance of power is another issue.

At the time of signing, travel to Australia for work may have been seen as an opportunity for individuals to improve their own economic situation and the situation off their families. Those signing on had no way of knowing exactly what conditions they would face on the canefields of Queensland.

So although black birding was not legally recognised as slavery, many would say that it shares some of the same characteristics including exploitation, restricted freedom and racial discrimination.

The transatlantic slave trade often involved mass capture and forced transportation.

It is estimated that 15-20% perished on the journey.

The journey from the Pacific Islands to Queensland was much shorter.

Ships were still overcrowded reflecting the economic imperative of the recruiters who wanted to maximise the number of people they could transport on each voyage.

Both institutions involved family separation. Both saw workers receive an unfair share in cash crop economies.

Conditions on the Queensland cane fields were harsh. Workers technically received wages, however these were sometimes withheld.

In the US slavery was enmeshed in law – both at the federal level and the state level.

In 1863 the famous Emancipation Proclamation was delivered and two years later Americans saw the passing of the 13th Amendment of the Constitution.

In Australia, Blackbirding was outlawed in 1901 through the Pacific Island Laborer’s Act – part of the suite of laws forming the White Australia Policy.

In Australia, the banning of blackbirding was linked to the preservation of racial homgeneity and the protection of white labor interests.

Australia never went to war with itself the way that they had in the US. Australia simply legislated the change.

Resistance to slavery in the US took several forms.

There were escapes.

There was the Underground Railroad – a collection of safe houses forming a network that sought to give slaves safe passage from the South to freedom in the North.

Resistance also took form through culture. Songs with themes of resistance, hardship, trial, hope and freedom sprang up.

In the history of blackbirding too one can find examples of escape attempts and even protests.

When we consider the historical memory of both institutions, it is clear that slavery is more well known than blackbirding is in Australia.

In the US, the Civil Rights Movement grew out of slavery and it’s impact. One can draw a line from slavery in the 19th century to Jim Crow laws in the 20th century and the civil rights movement in the 1950s and 1960s.

Australia has had it’s civil rights movement too, but it would fair to say that that Aboriginal issues were more prominent and had more exposure.

Today the descendants of Kanakas residing is Australia are known as Australian South Sea Islanders.