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Germanicus
01-09-2014, 06:43 AM
Australians once used rum as a currency. The first and only overthrow of the Australian government is called the Rum Rebellion. It was not the public overthrowing government but the private sector.




The Rum Rebellion of 1808 was the only successful armed takeover of government in Australian history (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_history). During the 19th century it was widely referred to as the Great Rebellion.[1] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rum_Rebellion#cite_note-1) The Governor (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Governors_of_New_South_Wales) of New South Wales (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_South_Wales), William Bligh (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Bligh), was deposed by the New South Wales Corps (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_South_Wales_Corps) under the command of Major George Johnston (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Johnston_(New_South_Wales)), working closely with John Macarthur (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Macarthur_(wool_pioneer)), on 26 January 1808, 20 years to the day after Arthur Phillip (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Phillip) founded European settlement in Australia. Afterwards, the colony was ruled by the military, with the senior military officer stationed in Sydney acting as the Lieutenant-Governor of the colony until the arrival from Britain of Major-General Lachlan Macquarie (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lachlan_Macquarie) as the new Governor at the beginning of 1810.



The overthrow of Governor Bligh

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/50/Government_House_Sydney_1809.jpg/220px-Government_House_Sydney_1809.jpg (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Government_House_Sydney_1809.jpg) http://bits.wikimedia.org/static-1.23wmf7/skins/common/images/magnify-clip.png (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Government_House_Sydney_1809.jpg)
Watercolour drawing of Government House, ca. 1809




On the morning of 26 January 1808 Bligh again ordered that Macarthur be arrested and also ordered the return of court papers, which were now in the hands of officers of the Corps. The Corps responded with a request for a new Judge-Advocate and the release of Macarthur on bail. Bligh summoned the officers to Government House (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Government_House,_Parramatta) to answer charges made by the judge and he informed Major Johnston that he considered the action of the officers of the Corps to be treasonable.[11]

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rum_Rebellion#cite_note-SLNSWBlighBanks-11)

Johnston, instead, had gone to the jail and issued an order releasing Macarthur, who then drafted a petition calling for Johnston to arrest Bligh and take charge of the colony. This petition was signed by the officers of the Corps and other prominent citizens but, according to Evatt, most signatures had probably been added only after Bligh was safely under house arrest. Johnston then consulted with the officers and issued an order stating that Bligh was "charged by the respectable inhabitants of crimes that render you unfit to exercise the supreme authority another moment in this colony; and in that charge all officers under my command have joined." Johnston went on to call for Bligh to resign and submit to arrest.[4]

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rum_Rebellion#cite_note-AustEncI-4)

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/56/Arrest_of_Govenor_Bligh.jpg/220px-Arrest_of_Govenor_Bligh.jpg (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Arrest_of_Govenor_Bligh.jpg) http://bits.wikimedia.org/static-1.23wmf7/skins/common/images/magnify-clip.png (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Arrest_of_Govenor_Bligh.jpg)
A propaganda (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaganda) cartoon (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cartoon) created within hours of William Bligh (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Bligh)'s arrest, portraying him as a coward[13]

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rum_Rebellion#cite_note-SLNSW-13)



At 6:00 pm the Corps, with full band and colours, marched to Government House to arrest Bligh.[4] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rum_Rebellion#cite_note-AustEncI-4) They were hindered by Bligh's daughter and her parasol[7] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rum_Rebellion#cite_note-DuffySMH-7) but Captain Thomas Laycock finally found Bligh, in full dress uniform, behind his bed where he claimed he was hiding papers.[4] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rum_Rebellion#cite_note-AustEncI-4) Bligh was painted as a coward for this but Duffy argues that if Bligh was hiding it would have been to escape and thwart the coup.[7] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rum_Rebellion#cite_note-DuffySMH-7) In his book Captain Bligh's Other Mutiny Stephen Dando-Collins (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Dando-Collins) agrees, and goes so far as to suggest that Bligh was planning to escape to the Hawkesbury and lead the settlers there, who were strongly supportive of him, against the coup leaders.[14] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rum_Rebellion#cite_note-BlighMutiny-14) During 1808 Bligh and his daughter Mary Putland were confined to Government House, under house arrest. Bligh refused to leave for England until lawfully relieved of his duty.[11]

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rum_Rebellion#cite_note-SLNSWBlighBanks-11)

Johnston appointed Charles Grimes (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Grimes), the Surveyor-General, as Judge-Advocate and ordered Macarthur and the six officers be tried; they were found not guilty.[4] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rum_Rebellion#cite_note-AustEncI-4) Macarthur was then appointed as Colonial Secretary and effectively ran the business affairs of the colony.[12] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rum_Rebellion#cite_note-AustEncII-12) Another prominent opponent of Bligh, Macarthur's ally Thomas Jamison, was made the colony's Naval Officer (the equivalent of Collector of Customs (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Customs) and Excise (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Excise)). Jamison was also reinstated as a magistrate, which enabled him and his fellow legal officers to scrutinise Bligh's personal papers for evidence of wrongdoing by the deposed governor.

The private sector and the military join together to take power in a coup.




Causes

Michael Duffy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Duffy_(Australian_journalist)), a journalist writing in 2006, says
The Rum Rebellion has slipped into historical oblivion because it is widely misunderstood. It is popular belief that the autocratic Bligh was removed because he threatened the huge profits that were being made from trading in spirits by the officers of the NSW Corps and by businessmen such as John Macarthur. This view suggests it was nothing more than a squabble between equally unsavoury parties. The conflict had greater depth than that of a mere squabble, however. Essentially it was the culmination of a long-running tussle for power between the government and private entrepreneurs, a fight over the future and the nature of the colony. The early governors wanted to keep NSW as a large-scale open prison, with a primitive economy based on yeomen ex-convicts and run by government fiat (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_fiat).[7] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rum_Rebellion#cite_note-DuffySMH-7) Duffy goes on to say that the Rebellion was not thought of at the time as being about Rum:
... almost no one at the time of the rebellion thought it was about rum. Bligh tried briefly to give it that spin, to smear his opponents, but there was no evidence for it and he moved on.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rum_Rebellion

The Eureka Rebellion was more important and more significant in my opinion. Pretty cool that we used rum for a currency though hey. The Rum Corps.

Reckon the private sector and military could join forces in the west? They could call martial law and go to one party fascism.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDL1eYzApHc


In the first days of the new colony in 1788 built around the Harbour in Sydney NSW there wasn’t much need for money because there was nothing to buy. All goods and provisions were allocated by the Governor to the troops or convicts as was necessary so no one needed cash. But as the colony grew and some convicts became free men, people began growing and making things, the need for some sort of currency grew.
The first “currency” used in the colony was rum
http://www.aussiebushadventures.com/blog.php?id=58

How cool is that? Our first currency was rum.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OidSD14mGE


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVBiuRp1oiA


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULEQpUY_crc

Bloody Drop Bears.

edit- the 'corps' were the Rum Corps.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_South_Wales_Corps

Germanicus
01-09-2014, 07:28 AM
The New South Wales Corps (aka The Rum Corps) was formed in England in 1789 as a permanent regiment (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regiment) to relieve the Royal Marines (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Marines) who had accompanied the First Fleet (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Fleet) to Australia.[1] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_South_Wales_Corps#cite_note-regts-1) The regiment, led by Major Francis Grose (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Grose_(Lieutenant-Governor)), consisted of three companies (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Company_(military_unit)). Due to the remoteness and unpopularity of the posting they were composed of officers on half pay (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Half_pay), troublemakers, soldiers paroled from military prisons and those with few prospects, who were gambling on making a life for themselves in the new colony.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_South_Wales_Corps

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Bloody Red Coats. NSW Rum Corps. (:

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5xnc1p7BMk