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First Europeans to sail to Australia were the Dutch, but they didn’t settle there. -
Captain James Cook sailed around Australia. Cook named the area New South Wales and ignored the Aborigines living there & claimed the land for England. -
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 -
British ships called the “First Fleet” left England. They left with convicts to establish a prison colony. -
New South Wales was officially a penal colony consisting mainly of convicts, marines, 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. -
From 1833, until the 1850s, it was the destination for the hardest of convicted British and Irish criminals. 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 was the destination for all who died inside the prison camps. -
Great Britain saw that Australia was a good location to base its navy in the South Pacific Ocean. Its location would make it possible for British ships to make repairs & get supplies. Had many opportunities for trade with Asia and the Americas. -
Major coastal settlements became 7 independent colonies. Government officials created boundaries for the colonies that are still in place today -
Melbourne served as the national capital until Canberra was completed in 1927. -
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. -
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 Aborigine
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