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The Dutch (Netherlands) were the first Europeans to sail to Australia, but they didn't settle there. The Aborigines attacked the Dutch after the Dutch made one landing, then abandoned further exploration. -
Captain James Cook sailed around Australia, ignoring the Aborigines living there. Cook had named the area New South Wales and claiming the area for Great Britain. Sailors also mapped out the coast Eastern Australia Tasmania. -
Due to the American Revolution, The British was forced to stop sending prisoners to Georgia (which was used as a penal colony at the time). That meant Great Britain had to start looking for another place to send the prisoners. Australia seemed like a good choice: no chance of escaping, no colonies around, an very little indigenous people there.
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In 1787 the British ships called the "First Fleet" left England with convicts to create and establish a prison colony. 1788 is when the British settled in Australia.
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1788 to 1832, New South Wales was officially a penal colony consisting mainly of convicts, marines, and the marines’ families. Only 20% of the first convicts were female. The British sent convicts there until 1868. By that time, free immigrants started to settle there. -
Great Britain saw that Australia was a good area to set its navy in the South Pacific Ocean, main reason being the location would make it possible for British ships to make repairs and get supplies. The location Had many opportunities for trade with Asia and the Americas. -
Aborigines (Australian Natives) went through stages of being conquered through an invasion and robbing of their lands. European settlers often separated Aborigines from the others. During the 1830's, remnants of the tribes of Aborigines in the settled areas were moved onto Reserves. During the 1900's separation was an official government policy which lasted for many decades.
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From 1833 going into the 1850s, it was the destination for the hardest convicted British and Irish criminals, those who were secondary offenders having re-offended after their arrival in Australia (Port Arthur had some of the strictest security measures of the British penal system). Some stories suggest that prisoners committed murder just to escape the desolation of life at the camp (The Island of the Dead was the destination for all who died inside the prison camps).
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Non-prisoner colonization continued and major coastal settlements became 7 independent colonies. In 1861, government officials created boundaries for the colonies that are still in place to this day. January 1, 1901, the Commonwealth of Australia was established. Lastly, Melbourne served as the national capital until Canberra was completed in 1927. -
Originally, Australia created and promoted a policy called “White Australia”, meaning they would not allow non-Caucasians to immigrate to Australia, though that has changed. Immigration Restriction Act of 1901, restricted migration to people primarily of European descent, this was dismantled after WII.
