Imagine... What it would be like to be to start again? What it would be like to spend weeks and weeks in a ship with thousands of others? What is would be like to watch others around you die from the terrible conditions and diseases that they have been exposed to? When asked questions about things we have never experienced before it is hard to give a proper answer, all you can do is assume and imagine but you can never give an exact precise response. So when asked if Australia was a Fatal shore for everyone or if it was a land of opportunity, all you can do is assume and imagine based on the available information provided because you don’t really know the answer because you have not experienced it firsthand. From the information provided, Australia was more of a Fatal Shore than it was a land of opportunity. For both convicts and free settlers life in Australia was extremely harsh. The lifestyle of Australia was extremely different to the environment that they were used to back home in England and it would have been hard for them to adapt to. However life in Australia wasn’t all that bad, for most of the convicts it was a second chance at life and for the free settlers it was a great opportunity to make their fortune. The working conditions that the convicts in early colonial Australia had to endure were incredibly severe. The working environment that the convicts suffered is evidence of the brutality that existed. Many off the convicts that arrived in Sydney had
The convicts did not follow this conduct and most believed that the Australian natives were ‘barely human’ (MacDougall .A.K 2004). The population ratio of British settlers in Australia to the natives, drastically altered over the century in the result of rapid colonisation and the conflicts which the Commonwealth of Australia Official Year Books explicitly depicts. The British settlers came in masses bringing a new society and culture to the land. The indigenous people were not familiar with an individual possession society and believed that the stock on the land was to be hunted and used as a food source. This is epitomised in a letter sent to the editor of The Sydney Monitor and Commercial Advertiser by Daniel Eaton in 1838, stating that ‘five horses [were] killed, and four others were wounded… a hundred head of cattle killed and the flocks and herds were driven away in all directions by the blacks’ (Convict Creations, 2013). Newspapers from the time showed that the British reacted to the natives by killing them off the land and believed that the ‘Natives should be slaughtered…[because] they are baboons, blood thirsty dogs and black animals’ (Stewart D,1986). The British were not interested in negotiating with the natives of the land and believed their culture was inhuman wasting the land. Governor Gawler stated in a newspaper article, ‘Black men- we wish to make you happy, but you cannot be
Many people think Australia is the ‘lucky country’. This is because Australia is known for its picturesque landscape and the multiculturalism in this country. However, there are issues that recently appeared. This includes the harsh climates of the Australian outback and the discrimination in this country.
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.
Significant cultural differences between the Indigenous Australians and the free settlers caused immediate impacts upon the Indigenous Australians, causing disputes and even death. The free settlers didn’t understand that the Aboriginal people had strong connections to the land and this resulted in many Indigenous people becoming dispossessed from the land and free settlers using the land for their own uses. Because of
It was a hard life for most people that were on the first fleet going to Australia. Convicts could either start a new life or leave back to there home. Officers could leave whenever they want or they could stay and the aborigines had no choice, but to move or be killed. The settlement of Australia was both a beginning and end for convicts.
With the already little population of 5 million Australian people and the loss of 300,000 men, this should have been a dark time, but to make up on that loss Australia received 300,000 migrants. These Migrants came from Britain. As there was a large amount of unemployment the British government encouraged the people of britain to migrate to Australia. Also the
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
Australia in the early 1900s has developed a reputation as a ‘working man’s paradise’ for its greater opportunity to success and an egalitarian society. However not all workers proved this to be true. In order to determine this statement, Issues to be discussed include firstly the hours of work for different genders, secondly the working conditions and finally the dispute for the right to fair treatment to women and Aboriginal natives throughout the 19th century.
As as result of the relocation of people from England to Australia, it turned Australia into the land of opportunity and made for a better world. It benefited England and the world for many reasons such as securing trade routes with China. The movement of the convicts also spread fear among english society deterring crime. Furthermore, some of the convicts were fortunate enough to the opportunity to live and potentially earn their freedom. Crime rates rose and England's jails become overcrowded with prisoners they resorted to using prison hulks as temporary, makeshift confinements on the river Thames eventually leading to the penal transportation to Australia.
“Nobody knew what was awaiting us in Australia.” This statement by an interviewed person by Jerzy Zubrzycki, named Lydia, suggests Australia was simply not well known in the DP camps of Europe. Thus Australian officials advertised Australia as a “…country of salvation and new beginnings, and an escape route from the wartime devastation and postwar Communist perils of Europe.” This subversion directly appeals to DPs, however with “new beginnings”, there were many differences between Australia and Europe that were often unexpected by migrants. Chub presents this stark contrast between reality and the highly publicised version of Australia, including “…the trees and birds [which] were different…even the frogs croaked differently to those in Ukraine…” These representations suggest Australia was a homeland that was also pastoral and nostalgic in a European sense. On the other hand, these representations suggest attention was more towards representing Australia as a desirable resettlement destination, rather than successfully integrating immigrants into the Australian community. The features of the Australian immigration policy, and other factors including distance made it an unattractive resettlement destination. For these reasons, Australian officials may have felt the need to ‘sell’ Australia.
People were desperate to leave the poverty, hardship and overpopulation occurring in Great Britain for the possibility of finally getting ahead in life that was being offered in Australia. Even many convicts, after they had served out their time in the penal colony were given pardons and also a parcel of land to farm as most convicts were farmers or skilled tradesmen. The land in Australia was seen as being fertile and great for farming and settlement and therefore labour was in abundance in Australia as there was a need to develop this new country. This meant it was easier to find employment, and that despite hard beginnings opportunities to prosper were in abundance. Even convicts in turn would now be seen as
The population of England and Ireland rose by 1.25 per cent per year between 1780 and 1860 which increased the rate of poverty. So from here they started sending convicts over to Australia depending on the crime or what they stole. They would be put in front of the judge and if they failed they would continue with the execution. This was a hard and long
“The first settlement in Sydney cove was described as a prison surrounded by bush and sea” (Bushrangers Hero, Victims or Villains, Jill Bruce, 2003). At first food was plentiful but a year later food stock decreased, especially to the food supply to the convicts. The shortages of food lead to stealing and severe consequences of being tortured and even death occurred. Those that escaped it were a desperate attempt for freedom. Although they found that the bush was a wild and strange place inhabited by natives
Imagining a world where disease plagues our very existence can often be difficult, because we are not able to fully relate to
In 1788 the first Fleet arrived in Australia bringing European soldierse, convicts and settlers. This bought aboriginals in contact with white people for the first time. Some aboriginal groups tried to resist this occupation and they used violence and force the archive it. This essay will explain why that resistance was justified by examining the causes, identifying some examples of Indigenous resistance and will assess short and long term effects of this conflict.