British-Tasmanian relations between 1803-1828

During the years between the colonisation of Van Diemen' s Land in 1803 and the first declaration of martial law in 1828~ attitudes between native Tasmanians and British settlers changed from an uneasy acceptance, to outright hatred of each other. From an early date the colonial government had stressed the equality of the Tasmanians as British subjects .. Each administrator, in turn, declared that ·the aborigines were protected by, and subject to, British law. Government attitudes towards the aborigines -were paternalistic. Its policies were ineffectual. In reality the Tasmanians were ignored as long as they accepted the treatment dealt by white settlers.