To The Outskirts Of Habitable Creation: Americans And Canadians Transported To Tasmania In The 1840s

Features of To the Outskirts of Habitable Creation: Americans and Canadians Transported to Tasmania in the 1840s

One of American historys lost stories To The Outskirts of Habitable Creation is the fascinating account of American and Canadian convicts exiled to an Australian penal colony In 1837 an armed rebellion at Toronto against the colonial administration of British Canada spilled across the border and US citizens joined the cause The socalled Patriot War kept the frontier in a climate of fear and uncertainty as a series of battles in Canadian territory continued throughout 1838 in the hope of instigating political change With the failure of each attempt to cross into Canada and revive the Rebellion combatants were taken into custody Trials resulted in hangings acquittals or pardons One group of ninetytwo prisoners however was sentenced to penal transportation for life in Australias far distant island of Van Diemens Land Tasmania Drawing on a wide variety of letters diaries and personal reminiscences the author tells the story through the experiences of the men and women who lived it A minor epic To the Outskirts is more than the story of the Rebellion of 1837 It is a vivid portrait of life in the CanadianAmerican borderland as well as in England and Australia during the second quarter of the nineteenth century