1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:03,000 Speaker 1: Hey everyone, Technically you're getting two days in history today 2 00:00:03,120 --> 00:00:05,920 Speaker 1: because we're running two episodes from the History Vault. I 3 00:00:06,000 --> 00:00:10,960 Speaker 1: hope you enjoy. Hey. I'm Eves, and welcome to this 4 00:00:11,039 --> 00:00:14,840 Speaker 1: Day in History Class, a show that uncovers history one 5 00:00:14,920 --> 00:00:28,400 Speaker 1: day at a time. The day was February. John Caesar, 6 00:00:28,680 --> 00:00:32,440 Speaker 1: who had the nickname Black Caesar, was shot dead after 7 00:00:32,640 --> 00:00:37,200 Speaker 1: escaping his settlement in Australia. Caesar was a bush ranger. 8 00:00:37,880 --> 00:00:41,640 Speaker 1: In fact, he's thought to be Australia's first bush ranger. 9 00:00:42,800 --> 00:00:46,120 Speaker 1: Bush Rangers were convicts and outlaws who took to the 10 00:00:46,159 --> 00:00:51,120 Speaker 1: Australian bush to avoid capture and punishment. Not all of 11 00:00:51,120 --> 00:00:54,720 Speaker 1: them were violent, but bush rangers did become known as 12 00:00:54,800 --> 00:00:59,080 Speaker 1: bandits who robbed stage coaches and banks and killed people. 13 00:01:00,440 --> 00:01:04,640 Speaker 1: Many people came to romanticize bush rangers for their rebellion 14 00:01:04,760 --> 00:01:09,520 Speaker 1: and anti authoritarianism, but Caesar only had a reputation for 15 00:01:09,560 --> 00:01:14,280 Speaker 1: his theft and penchant for escaping his confines. In the 16 00:01:14,360 --> 00:01:19,840 Speaker 1: late seventeen seventies, English captain James Cook charted eastern Australia 17 00:01:19,959 --> 00:01:23,120 Speaker 1: and claimed it for the British Crown, dubbing it New 18 00:01:23,200 --> 00:01:28,039 Speaker 1: South Wales, and soon after the British began colonizing New 19 00:01:28,080 --> 00:01:32,840 Speaker 1: South Wales in January of seventeen eighty eight. The first 20 00:01:32,959 --> 00:01:36,560 Speaker 1: fleet that had left England the previous year, arrived at 21 00:01:36,560 --> 00:01:40,720 Speaker 1: Botany Bay on the east coast of Australia. There are 22 00:01:40,880 --> 00:01:45,119 Speaker 1: likely several reasons for the move. Britain's population was growing, 23 00:01:45,480 --> 00:01:49,600 Speaker 1: its prisons couldn't accommodate everybody who was sentenced in America, 24 00:01:49,800 --> 00:01:54,560 Speaker 1: was no longer accepting transported criminals, and the land was 25 00:01:54,640 --> 00:01:58,680 Speaker 1: prime real estate Britain could expand the Empire, set up 26 00:01:58,680 --> 00:02:02,600 Speaker 1: a base in the region, and claimed the territory against 27 00:02:02,640 --> 00:02:07,280 Speaker 1: other places that might claw for that possession. Regardless of 28 00:02:07,280 --> 00:02:11,640 Speaker 1: the motives behind the colonization, Britain sent eleven vessels in 29 00:02:11,680 --> 00:02:17,200 Speaker 1: the first fleet, including six transports that held hundreds of convicts. 30 00:02:18,320 --> 00:02:20,520 Speaker 1: The plan was to put the convicts to work on 31 00:02:20,600 --> 00:02:24,880 Speaker 1: government farms. When the British realized that the land at 32 00:02:24,880 --> 00:02:29,280 Speaker 1: Botany Bay wasn't sufficient for their plans, they moved north 33 00:02:29,360 --> 00:02:33,440 Speaker 1: and established a penal colony in Port Jackson at Sydney Cove. 34 00:02:34,720 --> 00:02:37,400 Speaker 1: John Black Caesar was one of the convicts who were 35 00:02:37,440 --> 00:02:41,120 Speaker 1: sent to New South Wales in the first fleet. Caesar's 36 00:02:41,160 --> 00:02:45,200 Speaker 1: exact ancestry isn't known, but it is known that Caesar 37 00:02:45,360 --> 00:02:49,880 Speaker 1: was of African descent. Caesar was possibly born in Madagascar 38 00:02:50,120 --> 00:02:53,919 Speaker 1: or America, as one historian notes, but he later moved 39 00:02:53,919 --> 00:02:59,440 Speaker 1: to England and became a servant. In seventy six, when 40 00:02:59,520 --> 00:03:02,240 Speaker 1: he was some where around twenty two or twenty three 41 00:03:02,320 --> 00:03:06,760 Speaker 1: years old, John was charged with stealing money and sentenced 42 00:03:06,800 --> 00:03:11,600 Speaker 1: to transportation or banishment to a penal colony for seven years. 43 00:03:13,080 --> 00:03:16,119 Speaker 1: He was imprisoned on the ship the Alexander and sent 44 00:03:16,200 --> 00:03:21,320 Speaker 1: away to Australia in seventeen eighty seven. Caesar was described 45 00:03:21,360 --> 00:03:24,919 Speaker 1: as a hard worker but troublesome, and so were many 46 00:03:24,960 --> 00:03:27,920 Speaker 1: of the convicts who lived in harsh conditions in a 47 00:03:27,960 --> 00:03:33,000 Speaker 1: struggling colony among indigenous peoples who were not all welcoming 48 00:03:33,320 --> 00:03:37,600 Speaker 1: of the British immigrants in their problems. In April of 49 00:03:37,680 --> 00:03:42,000 Speaker 1: seventeen eighty nine, John was once again tried for theft 50 00:03:42,200 --> 00:03:45,880 Speaker 1: at the Criminal Court, but this time he was sentenced 51 00:03:45,920 --> 00:03:49,800 Speaker 1: to a life term of transportation that meant he was 52 00:03:49,880 --> 00:03:52,040 Speaker 1: destined to live out the rest of his days in 53 00:03:52,160 --> 00:03:57,160 Speaker 1: subjugation in Australia. So Caesar fled and took refuge in 54 00:03:57,200 --> 00:04:00,880 Speaker 1: the bush or, as Lieutenant Governor David Collins put it 55 00:04:00,920 --> 00:04:04,880 Speaker 1: at the time, Caesar had quote taken into the woods 56 00:04:04,920 --> 00:04:08,920 Speaker 1: with some provisions, an iron pot and a soldier's musket, 57 00:04:09,280 --> 00:04:13,360 Speaker 1: which he had found means to steal. Caesar was soon 58 00:04:13,440 --> 00:04:16,960 Speaker 1: caught and sent to work at Garden Island and Chains, 59 00:04:16,960 --> 00:04:20,919 Speaker 1: but that wouldn't be his last getaway. Caesar was a 60 00:04:21,000 --> 00:04:25,160 Speaker 1: character for sure, a fact made clear by contemporary descriptions 61 00:04:25,200 --> 00:04:29,080 Speaker 1: of him. Collins set the following about Caesar in his book, 62 00:04:29,440 --> 00:04:32,000 Speaker 1: An Account of the English Colony in New South Wales. 63 00:04:33,520 --> 00:04:36,919 Speaker 1: This man was always reputed the hardest working convict in 64 00:04:36,920 --> 00:04:41,120 Speaker 1: the country. His frame was muscular and well calculated for 65 00:04:41,240 --> 00:04:45,200 Speaker 1: heart labor, but in his intellects he did not very 66 00:04:45,240 --> 00:04:49,320 Speaker 1: widely differ from a brute. His appetite was ravenous, for 67 00:04:49,400 --> 00:04:52,480 Speaker 1: he could in any one day devour the full ration 68 00:04:52,560 --> 00:04:56,600 Speaker 1: for two days. To gratify this appetite, he was compelled 69 00:04:56,640 --> 00:04:59,839 Speaker 1: to steal from others, and all his stuffs were directed 70 00:05:00,120 --> 00:05:03,960 Speaker 1: that purpose. He was such a wretch and so indifferent 71 00:05:03,960 --> 00:05:07,479 Speaker 1: about meeting death, that he declared while in confinement that 72 00:05:07,560 --> 00:05:10,039 Speaker 1: if he should be hanged, he would create a laugh 73 00:05:10,120 --> 00:05:13,000 Speaker 1: before he was turned off by playing off some trick 74 00:05:13,120 --> 00:05:18,560 Speaker 1: upon the executioner. That same year, Caesar was allowed to 75 00:05:18,600 --> 00:05:22,279 Speaker 1: work without chains, and he escaped in a stolen canoe 76 00:05:22,400 --> 00:05:25,440 Speaker 1: with the gun. He tried to make do in the 77 00:05:25,480 --> 00:05:29,520 Speaker 1: bush by robbing gardens, threatening aborigines and taking their food, 78 00:05:30,120 --> 00:05:33,960 Speaker 1: but the aborigines ended up spearing him and he returned 79 00:05:34,000 --> 00:05:39,120 Speaker 1: to camp in early seventeen ninety. In March, Caesar was 80 00:05:39,120 --> 00:05:42,280 Speaker 1: sent to Norfolk Island, where he got land in a hog. 81 00:05:43,440 --> 00:05:46,719 Speaker 1: The next year he was given one acre or nearly 82 00:05:46,800 --> 00:05:50,080 Speaker 1: half a hectare and told to work three days a week, 83 00:05:51,279 --> 00:05:54,040 Speaker 1: and in seventeen ninety two he had a daughter with 84 00:05:54,080 --> 00:05:57,120 Speaker 1: a woman named and Power, who had been sent to 85 00:05:57,160 --> 00:06:02,160 Speaker 1: Australia on the Lady Juliana, a up that transported female convicts. 86 00:06:03,520 --> 00:06:06,880 Speaker 1: But Caesar soon left his family and went back to 87 00:06:07,000 --> 00:06:11,680 Speaker 1: Port Jackson in seventeen nine. He stole off again in 88 00:06:11,760 --> 00:06:16,719 Speaker 1: seventeen ninety four, but was soon back in custody. But 89 00:06:16,880 --> 00:06:21,760 Speaker 1: even after being punished severely for escaping, John allegedly said 90 00:06:21,839 --> 00:06:27,120 Speaker 1: that quote all that would not make him better. Collins 91 00:06:27,320 --> 00:06:32,640 Speaker 1: frequently referred to Caesar as incorrigible, but Collins had a 92 00:06:32,680 --> 00:06:35,560 Speaker 1: lot of choice words to say about John and the 93 00:06:35,640 --> 00:06:39,800 Speaker 1: other people living in New South Wales. I'd say Caesar 94 00:06:39,920 --> 00:06:43,280 Speaker 1: was relentless in his pursuit of some sort of freedom. 95 00:06:43,320 --> 00:06:48,000 Speaker 1: He escaped for the final time in December sev leading 96 00:06:48,040 --> 00:06:50,560 Speaker 1: a band of armed wanderers in the bush in the 97 00:06:50,600 --> 00:06:54,400 Speaker 1: Port Jackson area. He and the people in his troop 98 00:06:54,720 --> 00:06:57,960 Speaker 1: were deemed a threat for their thievery, and people were 99 00:06:58,000 --> 00:07:02,440 Speaker 1: told not to supply the vagabonds with ammunition. But clearly 100 00:07:02,720 --> 00:07:06,600 Speaker 1: Caesar had had enough. He said he wouldn't turn himself 101 00:07:06,600 --> 00:07:10,640 Speaker 1: in or be captured alive. So Governor Hunter offered five 102 00:07:10,720 --> 00:07:15,760 Speaker 1: gallons of spirits to the person who caught him. John Wimbo, 103 00:07:15,880 --> 00:07:19,240 Speaker 1: who had been hunting for Caesar for days, found Caesar 104 00:07:19,440 --> 00:07:23,440 Speaker 1: and shot him on the morning of Monday, February sev 105 00:07:25,560 --> 00:07:29,400 Speaker 1: John Black. Caesar died that day in a colonist hut 106 00:07:29,720 --> 00:07:34,640 Speaker 1: at Liberty Plains. I'm eaves, Jeff Cote, and hopefully you 107 00:07:34,680 --> 00:07:38,800 Speaker 1: know a little more about history today than you did yesterday. 108 00:07:39,520 --> 00:07:43,280 Speaker 1: And here's something else that I learned in researching this episode. 109 00:07:43,880 --> 00:07:48,160 Speaker 1: It said that Caesar wounded Pima Boy, and colonists celebrated 110 00:07:48,240 --> 00:07:51,360 Speaker 1: that one good deed of his as Pemma Boy was 111 00:07:51,400 --> 00:07:55,960 Speaker 1: an Aboriginal warrior and resistance leader who had conducted raids 112 00:07:56,000 --> 00:08:01,440 Speaker 1: on the colonists. A lot of the Aboriginal people resisted colonization, 113 00:08:01,840 --> 00:08:03,880 Speaker 1: but many of them died at the hands of the 114 00:08:03,880 --> 00:08:09,320 Speaker 1: colonists who spread disease, stole aborigines belongings, abused girls, and 115 00:08:09,640 --> 00:08:21,560 Speaker 1: committed massacres. Catch you all tomorrow for another episode. Hi everyone, 116 00:08:21,920 --> 00:08:25,120 Speaker 1: I'm Eves and welcome to This Day in History Class, 117 00:08:25,440 --> 00:08:28,200 Speaker 1: a podcast where we one day ship nugs of history 118 00:08:28,360 --> 00:08:38,280 Speaker 1: straight to your brain through your ear hole. The day 119 00:08:38,360 --> 00:08:44,000 Speaker 1: was February nineteen fifty four. US President Dwight D. Eisenhower 120 00:08:44,160 --> 00:08:47,840 Speaker 1: signed legislation that allowed for the construction of the Distant 121 00:08:47,880 --> 00:08:51,600 Speaker 1: Early Warning Line. The DOW Line was a system of 122 00:08:51,640 --> 00:08:56,080 Speaker 1: more than sixty radar installations established across the Arctic to 123 00:08:56,160 --> 00:09:01,680 Speaker 1: detect Soviet aircraft and intercontinental ballistic miss In the early 124 00:09:01,760 --> 00:09:05,840 Speaker 1: nineteen fifties, Cold War tensions were high, there were systems 125 00:09:05,840 --> 00:09:08,960 Speaker 1: in place to detect Soviet threats in the US and Canada, 126 00:09:09,360 --> 00:09:13,559 Speaker 1: including radar line. One such radar network was the Pine 127 00:09:13,559 --> 00:09:16,720 Speaker 1: Tree Line, the first line of air defense established in 128 00:09:16,760 --> 00:09:20,800 Speaker 1: Canada during the Cold War. It ran roughly along the 129 00:09:20,840 --> 00:09:25,240 Speaker 1: fiftieth parallel north across southern Canada and the northern US. 130 00:09:26,360 --> 00:09:29,320 Speaker 1: But the Pine Tree Line didn't provide that much warning 131 00:09:29,320 --> 00:09:33,280 Speaker 1: time before an attack, and it used pulse radar, which 132 00:09:33,320 --> 00:09:37,400 Speaker 1: had difficulty detecting planes close to the ground. Then there 133 00:09:37,480 --> 00:09:40,920 Speaker 1: was the Mid Canada Line, conceived to address these issues. 134 00:09:41,440 --> 00:09:44,000 Speaker 1: It was farther north than the Pine Tree Line and 135 00:09:44,160 --> 00:09:48,400 Speaker 1: it ran along the fifty parallel. The system used Doppler 136 00:09:48,480 --> 00:09:52,120 Speaker 1: radar and was better at low altitude detection. But the 137 00:09:52,240 --> 00:09:55,480 Speaker 1: US and Canadian governments determined that they needed a way 138 00:09:55,480 --> 00:09:59,200 Speaker 1: to spot Soviet attacks earlier. They determined that they would 139 00:09:59,240 --> 00:10:02,560 Speaker 1: need a system of radar stations across the Arctic, since 140 00:10:02,640 --> 00:10:06,160 Speaker 1: North America was vulnerable to attacks from across the North Pole, 141 00:10:07,080 --> 00:10:11,840 Speaker 1: so experimental stations were built in Illinois and Alaska. As 142 00:10:11,880 --> 00:10:15,920 Speaker 1: the threat of Soviet thermonuclear devices became more apparent, the 143 00:10:16,000 --> 00:10:19,560 Speaker 1: need for an early warning system became more urgent. On 144 00:10:19,640 --> 00:10:24,680 Speaker 1: February nine, fifty four, US President Eisenhower signed a bill 145 00:10:24,760 --> 00:10:29,280 Speaker 1: approving the construction of the Distant Early Warning Line. The 146 00:10:29,320 --> 00:10:32,600 Speaker 1: network would be the primary line of air defense warnings 147 00:10:32,640 --> 00:10:35,360 Speaker 1: for invasions of North America that came through the Arctic. 148 00:10:35,920 --> 00:10:39,200 Speaker 1: It would be located above the Arctic Circle, roughly along 149 00:10:39,240 --> 00:10:43,479 Speaker 1: the sixty nine parallel. A lot of that land was uninhabited, 150 00:10:43,520 --> 00:10:47,400 Speaker 1: but there were indigenous people living in some areas. The 151 00:10:47,440 --> 00:10:50,800 Speaker 1: Western Electric Company was tasked with completing the Dow Line 152 00:10:51,040 --> 00:10:54,760 Speaker 1: by July of nineteen fifty seven. It took around twenty 153 00:10:55,120 --> 00:10:59,360 Speaker 1: thousand people to plan and build the network, and thousands 154 00:10:59,440 --> 00:11:02,680 Speaker 1: of tons of materials were moved across the continent to 155 00:11:02,760 --> 00:11:07,840 Speaker 1: build radar domes, communication towers, and other facilities and infrastructure 156 00:11:07,880 --> 00:11:11,440 Speaker 1: necessary to build the stations on the line. The first 157 00:11:11,480 --> 00:11:14,280 Speaker 1: phase of the dow Line went into operation on July 158 00:11:14,400 --> 00:11:18,120 Speaker 1: thirty one, nineteen fifty seven. The Dow Line allowed for 159 00:11:18,200 --> 00:11:20,720 Speaker 1: more than four hours of morning time before an attack. 160 00:11:21,240 --> 00:11:24,280 Speaker 1: In addition to the stations across the Northern Arctic region 161 00:11:24,280 --> 00:11:27,880 Speaker 1: of Canada, the Dow Line was supplemented by stations and 162 00:11:28,120 --> 00:11:32,520 Speaker 1: air and sea patrols in the Aleutian Islands, Greenland, Iceland, 163 00:11:32,760 --> 00:11:37,000 Speaker 1: the Faroe Islands, and the UK. The network proved an 164 00:11:37,000 --> 00:11:42,960 Speaker 1: effective barrier against Soviet attacks. As technology advanced, facilities aged 165 00:11:43,080 --> 00:11:45,520 Speaker 1: in Soviet aggression during the Cold War became less of 166 00:11:45,520 --> 00:11:49,760 Speaker 1: an issue. The Dow Line became obsolete starting in nineteen 167 00:11:49,800 --> 00:11:53,080 Speaker 1: eighty five, the dow Line was reorganized and upgraded to 168 00:11:53,160 --> 00:11:56,800 Speaker 1: a new system called the North Warning System. Many of 169 00:11:56,840 --> 00:11:59,640 Speaker 1: the old Dow Line sites were abandoned or torn down. 170 00:12:00,800 --> 00:12:03,360 Speaker 1: As these stations have been cleaned up, there has been 171 00:12:03,440 --> 00:12:07,280 Speaker 1: controversy over the preservation of the sites and their impact 172 00:12:07,360 --> 00:12:11,320 Speaker 1: on the environment. I'm Eve Jeff Cote and hopefully you 173 00:12:11,360 --> 00:12:14,559 Speaker 1: know a little more about history today than you did yesterday. 174 00:12:15,640 --> 00:12:19,360 Speaker 1: You can keep up with us on social media on Twitter, Facebook, 175 00:12:19,400 --> 00:12:23,840 Speaker 1: and Instagram at t d i h C podcast. You 176 00:12:23,880 --> 00:12:27,600 Speaker 1: can also email us at this Day at I heart 177 00:12:27,679 --> 00:12:31,920 Speaker 1: media dot com. Thanks for listening. I hope to see 178 00:12:31,960 --> 00:12:41,360 Speaker 1: you here again tomorrow. For more podcasts from I Heart Radio, 179 00:12:41,480 --> 00:12:44,079 Speaker 1: visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you 180 00:12:44,160 --> 00:12:45,280 Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows.