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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 -
European Exploration : British
1770: Captain James Cook sailed around Australia Cook named the area New South Wales Ignored the Aborigines living there & claimed the land for England Sailors also mapped the coast eastern Australia & Tasmania -
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 -
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. -
Port Arthur, Tasmania
From 1833, until 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. •In addition, Port Arthur had some of the strictest security measures of the British penal system. Some tales suggest that prisoners committed murder (an offence punishable by death) just to escape the desolation of life at the camp. The Island of the Dead. -
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 -
Aborigines
borigines went through stages of being conquered through an 'invasion' and taking of their lands. •European settlers often separated Aborigines from society Some were removed from their families and placed into institutions Others were killed because they were seen as a “nuisance”•1830s: remnants of the tribes in the settled areas were moved onto Reserves They were forbidden from teaching their children their language and customs. -
“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. •Today, Australia has a global,non-discriminatory policy and is home to people from more than 200 countries! -
Aborigines 2
1967: federal government began to pass legislation to help the Aborigines It was widely seen as affirmation of the Australian people’s wish to see its government take direct action to improve the living conditions of Aborigines in March, striking Aboriginal farmers changed political history by extending a demand for equal wages to a declaration of their rights of ownership of traditional lands. -
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.