Protecting the empire's humanity : Thomas Hodgkin and British colonial activism, 1830-1870 /

Rooted in the extraordinary archive of Quaker physician and humanitarian activist, Dr. Thomas Hodgkin, this book explores the efforts of the Aborigines' Protection Society to expose Britain's hypocrisy and imperial crimes in the mid-nineteenth century. Hodgkin's correspondents stretch...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Laidlaw, Zoƫ (Author)
Format: Book
Language:English
Published: Cambridge ; New York : Cambridge University Press, [2021].
Series:Critical perspectives on empire.
Subjects:
Description
Summary:Rooted in the extraordinary archive of Quaker physician and humanitarian activist, Dr. Thomas Hodgkin, this book explores the efforts of the Aborigines' Protection Society to expose Britain's hypocrisy and imperial crimes in the mid-nineteenth century. Hodgkin's correspondents stretched from Liberia to Lesotho, New Zealand to Texas, Jamaica to Ontario and Bombay to South Australia. They included scientists, philanthropists, missionaries, systematic colonizers, politicians and indigenous peoples themselves. Debating the best way to protect and advance indigenous rights in an era of burgeoning settler colonialism, they looked back to the lessons and limitations of antislavery, lamented the imperial government's disavowal of responsibility for settler colonies and laid out elaborate (and patronizing) plans for indigenous 'civilization.' Protecting the Empire's Humanity reminds us of the complexity, contradictions and capacious nature of British colonialism and metropolitan 'humanitarianism', illuminating the broad canvas of empire through a distinctive set of British and Indigenous campaigners.
Physical Description:xiii, 374 pages : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm.
Bibliography:Includes bibliographical references (pages 334-358) and index.
ISBN:9781107196322
1107196329
9781316647240
1316647242