Australia Flashcards
1
Q
Why did the British chose to settle in Australia?
A
- Mainly brought about due to the need of a penal colony
- The American War of Independence meant prisoners could no longer be sent to America
- Transportation provided an alternative, the crime rate was also drastically increasing due to urbanisation and severe poverty
- British decision was confirmed in the Cook report, he confirmed that there was a vast swathe of land largely unoccupied
- This was known as terra nullius, or new land, the British did not consider the rights of the Aboriginal natives
- The report suggested favourable conditions and fertile land
- Botony Bay was selected as the first port based on reports from Banks and Cook who claimed it would be ideal for growing flax
- Australia held geographical and political value, it prevented the French from settling
- Norfolk Island was said to be rich in flax and pine, both crucial in ship building
2
Q
How did the British settle in Australia? How was it a success?
A
- Arthur Phillip led the first expedition
- First fleet fitted out at a cost of £84000
- Fleet sailed into Botony Bay in 1788 with 11 ships after a 252 day voyage
- No ships had been lost at sea
- Phillip defied orders and spent 6 months preparing for the voyage, his thorough preparations ensured that only 3% of the passengers dying at sea
- In 1790 Phillip established a second colony in Norfolk Island, the abundance of the Mutton bird made it a viable short term option and eased the pressure of rationing
- Botony Bay was not the fertile land as outlined in the Cook report
- Phillip’s decision to relocate to Sydney Cove was essential in the survival of the colony
- Phillip insisted that all food should be rationed equally
- This was resented by the Marines but proved crucial in providing sufficient food for everyone
- Under Phillip, only one person (Joseph Owen) died of starvation, he lost his cooking pot
- Relocation from Sydney Cove to Parramatta (renamed Rose Hill), using this land Phillip began to issue land grants to convicts
- This had a duel benefit of increasing grain yield and keeping convicts under control
3
Q
Who was in the first fleet?
A
- The first fleet consisted of 732 convicts, 543 were men, 189 were women and the remaining were children
- 2/3 of convicts had been charged with minor theft
- The remaining personnel consisted of 600 crewmen, their families and a number of civil officers
4
Q
Who was in the second fleet?
A
- The Lady Julianna arrived in June 1790
- It carried letters from home, 222 female convicts and supplies
- The other ships arrived two weeks later with over a quarter of the passengers dead
- This is a testament to the success of Phillip
- The second fleet brought vital supplies which drastically raised the odds of survival
5
Q
The arrival of the Irish:
A
- The first ship of Irish prisoners arrived 1791 and together made up the largest contingent of prisoners
- The political nature of some of the prisoners meant that they provided challenge to the governors and in 1804 they attempted a rebellion against governor King
6
Q
Grose:
A
- Second leader of New South Wales (not an official governor)
- He was a staunch military man and did not follow the systems put in place by Philip
- He immediately abandoned civilian courts and in 1793 he reduced rations for the convicts
- Grose did not continue to issue land grants to convicts but instead gave them to the New South Wales Corps (these replaced the Marines that had served under Phillip)
- He made a number of changes that would have long lasting changes on the colony
7
Q
Hunter:
A
- Second governor of New South Wales from 1795-1800
- He had inherited debauchery established by Grose
- The Corps had grown richer and more powerful and resisted any attempt to limit their powers
- The New South Wales Corps could send letters home to influential politicians
- A series of letters were sent home accusing Hunter of debauchery (which he was attempting to end)
- He was removed in 1800
8
Q
King:
A
- King had served in NSW under Philip and was charged with taking a small group to Norfolk Island
- He was more dynamic than Hunter and did much to broaden life in the colony
- However, he was not supported by the corps as he was too attempting to curb their power and disobedience
- The task of challenging the corps proved too great and he resigned in 1806 to be replaced by the infamous Bligh
9
Q
Bligh:
A
- In the absence of a governor the NSW corps had grown incredibly powerful as they had virtually exclusive access to Rum which was the main form of currency in NSW
- Bligh attempted to ban the use Rum as a currency and so he was deposed during the Rum Rebellion
- Bligh had a history of mutinies but it was clear that the next governor would have to limit the tyrannical power of the NSW corps
10
Q
Who was Lachlan Macquarie?
A
- Served as governor between 1809 and 1821
- Due to his long tenure as governor and his paternalistic nature he made a profound impact on the colony of New South Wales
- Macquarie sought to improve the prosperity, look and morality of the colony
- He was partly aided by the arrival of the Sterling and the end of the Napoleonic wars
- The arrival of the Sterling in 1812 allowed the beginning of a functional economy and not one based on land and promissory notes
- The end of the Napoleonic wars provided an influx of labour which meant that Macquarie had the man power to develop infrastructure
11
Q
How did Macquarie re-establish control?
A
- Re-establishing control, prior to his arrival the colony had been under the authoritarian rule of the New South Wales Corps
- This came about due to a lack of currency, rum was used as the most valuable commodity in the settlement
- The Corps could control the imports/exports and had payment in the form of promissory notes, this meant they had monopolised the economic life in the colony
- Bligh attempted to subdue their corruption but was overthrown in the rum rebellion
- One of Macquarie’s first actions was to disband the Corps, none were issued punishments but were relocated to the isle of Guernsey
- He sought to diminish the power of the Gentry by offering more equitable land grants to the convicts
- The power of the Gentry was already lowered by the dismissal of the NSW corps and Macquarie’s amicabilty towards the emancipists (convicts who had served their sentences)
- This was a further indication that he did not favour a society of social extremes
12
Q
How did Macquarie introduce moral reform?
A
- The settlement in NSW was rife with immorality
- Co-habitation was commonplace and there was a major dependency on alcohol
- Macquarie passed a proclamation against co-habitation without Benefit of the Clergy
- This improved the status of women within the colony, it led to some circumstances where women would gain wealth after outliving their husbands
- Importantly, it became less acceptable to rape women and leave them pregnant
- Macquarie sought to limit the consumption of alcohol by reducing the numbers of public houses and closing them during religious services
13
Q
How did Macquarie address land grants?
A
- Similar to his predecessors, Macquarie used a system of land grants for emancipists
- 30 acres for a single person, 50 for a couple and 10 for every child
- He was particularly generous with this power
- He was also generous when issuing tickets of leave and pardon
- Initially this system was supported by Westminister but complaints made by exclusives were evident in the Bigge report
- Expansion within the colony was no new phenomenon, Phillip had issued land grants at Parramatta and subsequent governors had expanded up Hawkesbury River
- Macquarie can be credited with expanding this idea, land upriver was fertile and the river was ideal for transport
- Macquarie used the land grant system to create 5 new settlements up the river between 1800-1811
- This expansion created conflicts with the Aboriginals
- The generous use of land grants and tickets of leave annoyed the exclusives
14
Q
How did Macquarie establish Macquarie town?
A
- Macquarie helped to transform NSW from a penal colony to a prosperous settlement by promoting agriculture, trade, and infrastructure development
- Macquarie was able to establish his own settlement due to his paternalistic interpretation of his role
- By the time Macquarie was governor, the colony was self sufficient and making profits
- All of these profits were reinvested into the colony to improve quality of life
- Macquarie built roads, schools, and churches utilising the skills of the convict architect Frances Greenway
- In the centre of Sydney he built a hospital at no cost to the colony by offering payment of liquor to the builders (named rum hospital)
- He built a road over the blue mountains which opened up vital grazing land for the wool industry
- His wife even established the first Aboriginal school
15
Q
Who were the Aboriginals?
A
- The Aboriginals are the native people to Australia, they had been there for 50000 years previously
- They had distinct language, culture and special beliefs
- However, their technological advances were primitive and limited
- The people in mainland Australia had developed the wheel and harnessed fire
- The arrival of Phillip in 1788 meant that two completely alien cultures would collide
- Over the years this resulted in several cases of genocide of the Aboriginals
- Cook claimed the territory of NSW for the King, he had been told to secure consent by the natives but he ignored this caveat
- Cook deduced that the primitive nature and lack of cultivation meant the land was in fact terra nullius
16
Q
The first encounter with Aboriginals in NSW:
A
- First encounters were undoubtedly fraught with difficulties
- Cook and Banks had suggested that the Aboriginals were child like, this was not the case
- The Aboriginals were in fact skilled hunters and proved to have impressive fighting techniques
- Phillip was initially under instruction to work amicably towards the natives
- Meanwhile, the Eaora people were concerned with the sex of the newcomers
- In their culture the men would only interact with other men, the British were shaven and decorated, meaning the Eaora people could not determine their sex
- Phillip ordered a sailor to pull down his trousers, communication could now begin
- As the British stayed longer, theft on both sides became more frequent, resulting in the death of two convicts
- Phillip attempted to remain amicable to the settlers and befriended an aboriginal called Bennelong
- However, the most fertile land could only be obtained through violence with the Eaora people
- The First disaster was the outbreak of smallpox, wiping out around 50% of the Aboriginals
- Phillip refused to order retaliation against the natives, even after he was speared
- Phillip armed the people of Parramatta and an ongoing war took place, casting a stain on his record which had otherwise been successful in his ventures
17
Q
What was the Aboriginal genocide?
A
- The arrival of the colonists resulted in the spread of disease that the aboriginals had no natural immunity to
- As the needs of the colonists growing, they began to encroach further onto native land
- In 1828 a state of emergency was declared in which the British were to place the Aboriginals on settled land
- The idea of quarantining the aboriginal people on settled land was a short term and unseccessful venture
- With the growth of the wool and whaling industry, the population of colonists increased
- In short the needs of the colonists outweighed the rights of the natives
18
Q
How did Macquarie improve the economy?
A
- He founded the Bank of New South Wales in 1817 to provide financial stability and support economic growth
- This was in tandem with the introduction of the “Holy Dollar”
- This new currency reduced the dependency upon rum as a currency
- The establishment of a bank supported the development of a trading colony
19
Q
What were the failures of Macquarie?
A
- Macquarie was still a product of colonial attitudes
- He maintained strict hierarchical structures in which convicts were relegated to the bottom rung
- He authorised military action against the Aboriginals, resulting in many deaths, most notably the Appin Massacre and the Black wars
- He encouraged the growth of slavery and denied women the right to vote
- He established a system of harsh punishments including flogging and hanging even for minor offences
- Those who followed orders were rewarded but resisters would be sent to Van Dimen’s land - a brutal authoritarian state
- Many complaints against Macquarie’s arrogance were issued in the Bigge inquiry
20
Q
Who was John Macarthur?
A
- Owned 1/4 of the wool industry
- The number of sheep had risen to 20000
- Macarthur imported Merinho sheep and established an export market with Britain, thus solidifying a prosperous link
21
Q
What was Van Dimen’s land?
A
- Tasmania, previously called Van Dimen’s land
- A dumping ground for dangerous criminals
- Governed by George Arthur, ruled as an authoritarian
- This removed the most hardened criminals from NSW
