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European Exploration: Dutch
First Europeans to sail to Australia were the Dutch (Netherlands) in 1606, but they didn’t settle there. The Dutch made one landing, were attacked by Aborigines, and then abandoned further exploration -
Prisoners as Colonists
American Revolution forced the British to stop sending prisoners to Georgia (used as a penal colony at the time). Great Britain had to start looking for another place to send its prisoners. Australia seemed like a good choice: no chance of escape, no colonies around it, and very few indigenous people lived there. -
European Exploration : British
1770: Captain James Cook sailed around Australia. Cook named the area New South Wales. He ignored the Aborigines living there & claimed the land for England. Sailors also mapped the coast eastern Australia & Tasmania. -
First Fleet
1787 – British ships called the “First Fleet” left England with convicts to establish a prison colony•1788—British prisoners settled in Australia -
New South Wales
1788 to 1832: New South Wales was officially a penal (prison) colony consisting mainly of convicts, marines (guards), and the marines’ families. Only 20% of the first convicts were women. British transported prisoners to Australia until 1868. By this time, many free immigrants were settling there. They built businesses, trading posts, farms, etc. -
Aborigines
Aborigines went through stages of being conquered through an 'invasion' and taking of their lands. European settlers often separated Aborigines from society. 1830s: remnants of the tribes in the settled areas were moved onto Reserves. They were forbidden from teaching their children their language and customs. •During the 1900s, separation was an official government policy which lasted for many decades -
Port Arthur, Tasmania
From 1833 till the 1850s, it was the destination for the hardest of 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 tales 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. -
Commonwealth of Australia
Nonprisoner colonization continued. Major coastal settlements became 7 independent colonies. 1861: government officials created boundaries for the colonies that are still in place today. January 1, 1901: the Commonwealth of Australia was established. Melbourne served as the national capital until Canberra was completed in 1927 -
White Australia
Originally, Australia promoted a policy called “White Australia”. They would not allow non-Caucasians to immigrate to Australia. That has since changed. Immigration Restriction Act of 1901: restricted migration to people primarily of European descent. This was dismantled after the Second World War. -
Australia Today
1986: Australia Act -- all legal ties with the British Empire were severed. Today, Australia is a parliamentary democracy (constitutional monarchy) with Elizabeth II as queen. 1999: 55% of voters rejected the idea of becoming an independent republic.