A cura di Paola Della Valle 
 
 A historical overview of the largest empire of all time, from its origins to the decline and then the Commonwealth, through five stories from the five continents, told by: Joseph Conrad (An Outpost of Progress), keen observer of European colonialism in Africa; Rudyard Kipling (Lispeth, India); Henry Lawson (The Drover’s Wife, Australia); Henry Rider Haggard (Long Odds, South Africa); Gilbert Parker (A Man, A Famine and a Heathen Boy, Canada).
 Stimulating in-depth analyses enrich each story. 
 
 Teacher's Resources available online: Answer Key - Transcripts - Summing-up Activities
 
 Uno sguardo storico al più grande impero di tutti i tempi, dalle origini al declino e al Commonwealth con cinque storie per i cinque continenti narrate da: J. Conrad (An Outpost of Progress, acuto osservatore del colonialismo britannico in Africa); R. Kipling (Lispeth, India); H. Lawson (The Drover’s Wife, Australia); H. R. Haggard (Long Odds, Sudafrica); G. Parker (A Man, a Famine and a Heathen Boy, Canada).

History of the British Empire: Birth and Decline

Joseph Conrad

Story 1 – An Outpost of Progress

Extension – From Heart of Darkness to Apocalypse Now

History of the British Empire: Colonial India

Rudyard Kipling

Story 2 – Lispeth

Extension – The voice of non-violence: Mahatma Gandhi

History of the British Empire: Colonial Australia

Henry Lawson

Story 3 – The Drover’s Wife

Extension – Australian identity: the bush and the Aborigines

History of the British Empire: Colonial South Africa

Henry Rider Haggard

Story 4 – Long Odds

Extension – From lost worlds to psychoanalysis

History of the British Empire: Colonial Canada

Gilbert Parker

Story 5 – A Man, a Famine and a Heathen Boy

Extension – Canada’s indigenous peoples

Summing-up activities

Glossary

Colonial Australia The first inhabitants of Australia were the Aborigines, who migrated there around 40,000 years ago from Southeast Asia. Dutch, Portuguese and Spanish ships sighted1 Australia in the 17th century. In 1644, the Dutch seafarer Abel Tasman baptized the continent New Holland. The British arrived in 1688, but it was not until Captain James Cook s voyage in 1770 that Great Britain claimed possession of the eastern region, which Cook called New South Wales. A British penal colony was set up at Port Jackson (now Sydney) in 1788, and about 161,000 English convicts were settled there. In 1791, the British government offered land to those who had completed their sentences, but they were not allowed to return to Britain. The penal colony was suspended in 1839. At the time of early European settlement, the number of aboriginal people was between 500,000 and 1 million. Six colonies were established: New South Wales (1786), Tasmania (1825, named after Tasman), Western Australia (1829), South Australia (1834), Victoria (1851) and Queensland (1859). Various gold rushes attracted settlers, as did the mining of other minerals. Sheep farming and grain soon grew into important economic enterprises. By the middle of 19th century raw wool exports rose to over 10 million pounds annually. The six colonies became states, and in 1901 federated into the Commonwealth of Australia with a constitution which incorporated British parliamentary and US federal traditions. The Colonial Conference of 1907 was the first time that the Commonwealth of Australia was referred to as a  Dominion , that is, a fully self-governing colony, together with Canada and, later that year, New Zealand. The Northern Territory was separated from South Australia in 1911. Australia achieved independent sovereign nation status in 1931 under the Statute of Westminster, which also recognized it as a member of what was then called the British Commonwealth. The Australia Act of 1986 removed any remaining links between the British Parliament and Australia. When the Europeans arrived, finding no obvious political structure, they took the land as their own. Aboriginal people were driven out of 2 their homes, and many were killed by the new European diseases and in fighting. During the early part of the 20th century, legislation was passed to segregate the Aborigines. This involved restrictions on where they could live and work, and many families were broken up. After World War II, assimilation became the government s aim. All rights were taken away from the Aborigines and attempts were made to  europeanize  them. During the 1960s, the Federal Government passed legislation for all Aborigines to be given citizen status. However, it wasn t until 1972 that the indigenous people were given back limited rights to their own land. The situation has been steadily improving, although many feel that more needs to be done. Today there are about 350,000 Aborigines in Australia, 2% of the total population. 1. sighted: saw from a ship. 2. drive out of: expel, remove. 

The Author Henry Lawson (1867-1922) Henry Lawson   Australia s first great short-story writer and poet   was born in Grenfell, New South Wales in 1867. He was the eldest of the four children of Niels Hertzrberg (Peter) Larsen, a Norwegianborn miner, and his wife Louisa, née1 Albury. On Henry s birth, the family name was anglicised. The family often moved, as Peter joined the gold rush. In August 1873, with the birth of their third child imminent, they finally settled at Pipeclay (now Eurunderee), where Peter took a selection2 which Louisa managed. Existence remained precarious for the Lawsons. Even at its best, the selection was only marginally productive, Peter was often absent and Louisa alone and vulnerable. Responsibility started falling on young Henry s frail shoulders and intensified in him a tendency to introversion. These years would inspire The Drover s Wife. Lawson s mother, one of the first Australian feminists and editor of a women s paper called Dawn, had a great influence on Henry s writing. Reading became Henry s major source of education as he had a hearing deficiency, which led to total deafness when he was 14. In 1880, Lawson left school and started working with his father on local contract building jobs. Then he followed his mother to Sydney, where she had moved with the other children. He tried many jobs, but began to write as well. Contact with his mother s radical friends filled him with an ardent republicanism, out of which grew his first published poem  A Song of the Republic  (Bulletin, 1 October 1887). The following year saw his first published short story,  His Father s Mate , and by 1892 a number of sketches came out, together with  The Drover s Wife . He also wrote short pieces for the little radical newspaper, the Republican, and collaborated with the Brisbane Boomerang and the Worker. 2. selection: land for intensive agriculture, acquired from the state at a low price. 1. née: used after a married woman s name to give her original family name. 45 

Una prospettiva storica sull'Impero britannico con cinque storie rappresentative dai cinque continenti: Africa, India, Australia, Sudafrica e Canada.

The British Empire - Collana Rainbows

Level B2 • Intermediate - Collana RAINBOWS

The British Empire

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