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HMS bark Endeavour : Comments
By Everald Compton, published 27/9/2018Sadly, we are now at a time in Australian history where an influential minority are demonising James Cook, accusing him of being the originator of every social and economic problem that Indigenous Australians have faced.
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USA. "there is no doubt that British military authorities approved of attempts to spread smallpox among the enemy", and "it was deliberate British policy to infect the Indians with smallpox". On 24 June 1763, William Trent, a local trader and commander of the Fort Pitt militia, wrote, "Out of our regard for them, we gave them two Blankets and an Handkerchief out of the Small Pox Hospital. I hope it will have the desired effect."
"According to a theory put forward in Journal of Australian Studies (JAS) by an independent researcher, in 1789, British marines used smallpox against indigenous tribes in New South Wales. Prior to the JAS article this theory was disputed by some academics , it is now known that the likely source was bottles of smallpox virus possessed by First Fleet surgeons and there actually was a report of smallpox amongst the colonists – a seaman, Jefferies."