The Bushrangers of Australia Educational Resources K12 Learning, World, History Lesson Plans, Activities, Experiments, Homeschool Help

Lesson Plan - Get It!

Audio:

Why do you think outlaws are sometimes honored as heroes?

One of the popular movie genres, or types, in the mid-twentieth century was the Western.

Moviegoers loved to follow the stories of the men in white hats versus the men in black hats — the good guys versus the bad guys. Some of those stories were based on the legends of the American West and some of the real heroes and outlaws who lived there.

Australia also has a heritage of legends like these. The outlaws of the Australian version, though, were known as bushrangers.

The bush, much like the American wild West, was a vast, open land that only the bravest and toughest settlers could survive. The term bushranger came from the people who attempted to settle the land.

The term became associated with criminals and convicts whom people thought were the only ones tough enough to live in the bush.

As you read the passge below to learn more about the bushrangers, write down the answers to these questions.

When did the period of the bushrangers begin?
Who was the first famous bushranger?
Why did some people sympathize with the bushrangers?

The bush is an important part of the way Australians think about their country and imagine its past. There have been many books, films, and other works of art produced to show the place of the bush in the imagination of the Australian people.

One of the most popular kinds of stories about the Australian bush is the legends of the bushrangers. The first bushranger was a man named John Caesar, also known as Black Caesar. Black Caesar was a former West Indian slave.

He escaped into the bush in the year 1790 and became a notorious thief. He was captured many times but frustrated authorities with his ability to escape time and time again. He survived in the wilderness by hunting and fishing but also by the kindness of strangers who supported him.

Many other bushrangers would follow. Some modern Australians made the bushrangers into heroes. They committed crimes, it is true. But many believe that the bushrangers were in fact fighting against unfair living conditions and poor treatment by authorities.

The stories of these wilderness survivors have become a popular and romantic way of remembering the Australian past and thinking about the difference between right and wrong.

After finding the answers to the initial questions above, consider these.

Why do people sometimes turn the bad guys into heroes?
Do you think it is right to make the bushrangers, like Black Caesar, into heroes? Why or why not?
Can you think of any similar examples from your own country's history?

Black Caesar was just the first of many bushrangers.

In the Got It? section, learn about the fascinating lives of some other famous outlaws from the Australian bush!