First Settlers In Australia

Australia was first claimed by Captain Cook in early 1770, but it wasn’t settled until 1788 when the first fleet of 11 ships arrived at Botany Bay, carrying 1,530 passengers - mostly convicts, as well as some marines and officers. They moved to Port Jackson to begin establishing a settlement. Specific prisoners were chosen for the trip, the ones with skills in building, farming and other things that would have been useful to create a “liveable” environment for the new inhabitants. The first “free” settlers only arrived in 1793, thus beginning the colonisation of New South Wales.

There were many different ways in which Aboriginal people resisted the non-indigenous settlement of Australia. In 1770, James Cook first landed in Botany Bay, which was the home of the Eora People, and claimed the East Coast for Britain.

As time progressed, colonists began to identify as Australian rather that British. During the time of federation over 80% of the population were Australian born. There were people

Most scholars date the arrival of humans in Australia at 40,000 to 50,000 years ago, with a possible range of up to 125,000 years ago.[18] Genetic studies appear to support an arrival date of about 44,000 years ago.[19][20]

The first fleet arrived at Botany Bay on the 18th of January 1788 which was later declared as an official prison. The Captain of the fleet, Captain Phillips however found out that the harbour was in lack of fresh water therefore was unsuitable for conviction. The fleet then redirected to Port Jackson which then marked the official first European landing on Sydney Harbour.

On the 26th of January 1788, Australia was settled by the British who came in the First Fleet. The First Fleet was made up of 11 ships, holding 1,350 convicts, soldiers and settlers. Australia became the new penal colony as prisons were overflowing in Britain due to America’s Independence and refusal to take more convicts. Recently, there has been much debate over whether this colonisation of Australia was an invasion or settlement. An invasion is an unwelcome intrusion into another’s domain. Whereas a settlement is the process of establishing a settlement or settlements. Clearly, when considering these definitions, it can be seen that the colonisation of Australia was intended to be a peaceful settlement, but soon turned

European settlement had a negative impact on the Indigenous Australians and it provided a catalyst for the destruction of Indigenous society. The impact of European settlement on the Indigenous people of Australia was disastrous due to many things such as taking land that belonged to the Aboriginal people. Though there were some attempts to understand each culture, it led to various massacres and conflicts around Australia which had caused a decline in the Aboriginal population. Apart from the violence, the Europeans had brought diseases to Australia which wiped out generations at a time and had a dramatic effect on the

Human rights are the rights of humans, regardless of nationality, gender, race, or religion. We should all have this in common as we are all part of humanity. However, Indigenous people did not always have these rights (Ag.gov.au, 2015). Aside from basic human rights, Indigenous people also have their own rights specific to their culture. Before 1967, Indigenous people had different rights in different states and the Australian federal government did not have any jurisdiction over Aboriginal affairs until Australia’s constitution was amended for this purpose in 1967 (Moadoph.gov.au, 2015). Between 1900 and the present time, there have been significant changes to the rights of Indigenous Australians. The effects of the European Settlement on the Indigenous people of Australia have been devastating. When white people began arriving in Australia, the Aboriginal people believed them to be ghosts of ancestor spirits. However, once they realised the settlers were invading their land, the Aborigines became, understandably, hostile (Slater & Parish, 1999, pp.8-11). In 1788, the total Indigenous population was believed to be between 750,000 and one million. By 1888, the Indigenous population was reduced to around 80,000 Australia wide (Korff, 2014). The three main reasons for this dramatic decline were the introduction of new diseases, violent conflicts with the colonisers, and settlers acquiring Indigenous land (Digital, 2015). In 1848, the Board of National Education stated that it

Before the First Fleet, consisting of eleven ships, arrived in Botany Bay on the 26th of January 1788, it is known that there were approximately 750 000 Aboriginals living in Australia. Today there are only about 250 000 (Harding, 2001). They all made many, both positive and negative impacts on the Aboriginals. Whilst they brought several diseases which wiped out much of the population and kidnapped many Aboriginal people, the British also showed many technologies to the Native people and introduced them to the modern world.

The British were looking for a new settlement from 1788 and it was around this time that Australia was founded. On the arrival and colonisation of Australia, the British took over the aboriginal land, due to the land being ‘terra nullius’ which mean ‘land of no one’ in Latin. It was because of this reason that the new British settlers justified their take over of the aboriginal/Torres strait islanders land. The British believed that their culture was superior to all others as they had a modernised society back in the United Kingdom. It was for this reason that the British took half-caste (Mixed race) aboriginal children from their families, and took them to settlement camps run by the state government between the 1900’s and the 1960’s.

In Australia, the indigenous people who lived there before Europeans arrived in the 1700s are referred to as Aborigines (Bradshaw, 2012). Once the Europeans came, there was a cultural shift as the British decided to colonize the country. It is believed that the indigenous people of New Zealand were the Moriori, which were later drove out by the Maoris around 800 AD (2012). A similar process of British colonization occurred in New Zealand about 150 years after the British had landed and colonized in Australia.

Australia’s First Peoples: The two original peoples of Australia – that is the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, Australia first people is used to avoid abbreviation ATSI to apply to people. Australia‘s First people are diverse Aboriginal nations, each with its own language and traditions, and have historically lived on mainland Australia, Tasmania or on many of the continent’s offshore islands.

Aborigines are believed to have lived in Australia for between 60,000 and 40,000 years, their early ancestors coming from South-East Asia. Precise population details for the period before European colonisation are unavailable, but it is estimated that there were between 300,000 and 1,000,000 Aborigines in Australia when European settlers first arrived in 1788.

The Aborigines are the indigenous people of Australia. According to their traditional beliefs, the Aborigines have inhabited Australia since the beginning of time, but most modern dating techniques have placed the first native Australians at closer to 60,000 years ago, based on carbon dating of fossils and knowledge of geological changes in the region. Sea levels have fluctuated throughout history and were 200 meters lower at the time the ancestors of the Aborigines were thought to have made their way to Australia. This still left large expanses of open water that had to be crossed- up to 100 km- indicating that these people had developed some sort of sea-faring technology long before any other people. The Aboriginal

Colonisation in Australia is followed by 5 steps, according to Professor Virgillio Enriquez. Step 1, includes the denial of culture within the indigenous society. This first step to this process of colonisation, also gives perspectives on the way colonisers display ignorance upon different cultures. This initial step also includes the gradual withdrawal of cultural practices, as indigenous people may develop close relationships with the colonised strangers and eventually adapt to their culture. Due to the advanced culture of the colonisers, some may become converted and eventually turn against their original culture. With the denial of indigenous culture, step 2 of colonisation was invoked, with the destruction of anything representing their