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Dutch involvement in the exploration of North America began almost accidentally in the spring of 1609, when the Lords Seventeen, the highest authority of the United East India Company (VOC), engaged the English navigator Henry Hudson to try to find a safe passage to the wealthy Spice Islands in the East. -
In 1770 Captain James Cook sailed around Australia. Cook named the area New South WalesIgnored the Aborigines living there & claimed the land for England. Sailors also mapped the
coast eastern Australia & Tasmania. -
A penal colony or exile colony is a settlement used to exile prisoners and separate them from the general population by placing them in a remote location, often an island or distant colonial territory. In 1787 British ships called the “First Fleet” left England with convicts to establish a prison colony -
In 1788 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. -
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. -
From 1833 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 was the destination for all who died inside the prison camps. -
Nonprisoner colonization continued. Major coastal settlements became 7 independent colonies. In 1861 government officials created boundaries for the colonies that are still in place today. -
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! -
In 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. This became one of Australia’s first successful land claims by its indigenous people. -
In 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.