Australia Flashcards
Describe the discovery of Australia
- In 1606 Australia was discovered by the Dutch who mapped out the entire North and West coast. They called the land New Holland, but did not settle it
- In 1770 the East Coast of Australia was explored by Captain James Cook and named the area New South Wales
Describe the first landing on the coast of Australia by the British
Captain Cook landed on Silver Beach in Botany Bay on the 29th April 1770. Here he was attacked by 2 indigenous men who opposed his landing, and 1 of them got shot.
He stayed for a week, collecting water, timber, fodder and plant samples then left
Why did Britain want to establish another colony and why did they pick Botany Bay
After US independence, Britain had nowhere to send felons so the prisons became overcrowded
Botany Bay was selected as the government wanted to settle in the West Pacific to reduce French influence there, and Botany Bay was recommended as a habitable location by Banks and Marta (two of the now dead Captain Cook’s shipmates)
How much money was invested in kitting out the first fleet to Australia
£7.3 million
For the first journey to settle Australia…
- How many days did it take
- How many ships were there
- How many people were there
- How many people died on the journey
- 252 days
- 11 ships
- 1400 people
- 69 died
What day did the settlers land in Australia and what day did they claim the territory
Settled 19th January 1788
Claimed 7th February 1788
What was the problem with the type of people who settled Australia
Most convicts were unskilled and therefore upon first settling had no real way to contribute to society
How many of the 1400 people who settled Australia were convicts
775
What 2 problems faced the settlers in the first 6 months of being in Australia
- Lack of food as all the livestock had been eaten or lost, no ploughs were available and the thin soil in the local area did not yield sufficient crop
- It was difficult to make bricks so the settlers struggled to build infrastructure
What was the 2 ambitions of the government in creating self-sufficiency in Australia and how successful were they
- Enough farming and development to be able to not need imports (was planned to take 4 years but took 33 so failed)
- Provide land grants to convicts after their sentence ended, successful as 66 land grants were given, 52 of which to convicts which made them want to stay
3 reasons for the survival of the Australian settlement
- Thorough planning caused only a 3% detah rate
- Governor Phillips sent 183 convicts, 28 children and 81 marines to Norfolk Island which had the mutton bird which was exported to Australia to feed the local population
- Relocation of farming areas to the more arable Parramatta
When and where did the HMS Sirius wreck and what was the impact of this
Wrecked in March 1790 off the coast of Norfolk Island which limited the ability to ship food to NSW which nearly starved as a result
What years were the following Governors of NSW in power:
Governor Phillips
Governor Bligh
Governor MacQuarie
Governor Brisbane
Phillips: 1788-1792
Bligh: 1806-1808
Macquarie: 1810-1821
Brisbane: 1821-1825
Describe the British involvement with Bennelong
The British kidnapped Bennelong in November 1789 in order to foster good communications with aboriginals, and he was well liked by the British, but he escaped in May 1790
He was found in September 1790 eating a whale with other aboriginal
He was shipped to London in 1792 where he lived until 1795 when he went back to NSW
He was crucial to the colony as he explained indigenous customs and lifestyles and largely helped establish understanding and peace between the Eoras and British
Why are there arguments that the British used biological warfare against the Aboriginal people
A smallpox outbreak took place in the Port Jackson aboriginal tribe and spread to other aboriginals, killing up to 90% in some areas.
The only smallpox present in all of Australia was on a vial on board one of the ships, indicating someone used the vial to infect aboriginals
Describe British involvement and conflict with Pemelwuy
Pemelwuy was an aboriginal from Parramatta who knew Bennelong. In 1790 he caused tensions between settlers and aboriginals after he speared the gamekeeper of Governor Phillips leading to the capture of 10 aboriginals
In 1797 he commanded an army of 100 aboriginals at the battle of Paramatta, and the aboriginals thought he was invincible after surviving being shot in the head
He led guerilla style raids on the British from 1795-1802 which led to Phillips ordering on-sight shootings of some aboriginals in 1801
In 1802 he was killed and the aboriginals returned his head as a peace offering. His son continued to fight before he was killed in 1810
What was the Mutiny on the Bounty
In 1789, William Bligh captained a ship tasked with transporting breadfruit from Tahiti to the Caribbean, but on the 29th April 1789, Christian Fletcher led a mutiny on the ship. 19 men and Bligh were forced into a smaller and had to sail 6500km home, while Fletcher and the mutineers permanently settled on the Pitcairn Islands
How did Bligh rebuild his career after the 1789 Mutiny on the Bounty
He was acquitted for the loss of the beat in 1790, then rebuilt his career working alongside Lord Nelson
Who were the NSW Corps
An army regiment originally sent to aid the foundation of NSW. These people were collectively very wealthy and in the absence of a clear currency they gained a monopoly in rum, which became the currency giving them effectively full power over NSW.
They also crushed the Castle Hill uprising in 1804, where Irish convicts tried to take over the colony. This led them to believe they were the rightful owners of the colony as they defended it
Who was John Macarthur and why did Bligh have conflict with him
A lieutenant of the NSW Corps
Bligh did not like and ended Macarthur’s monopoly on rum and wool to NSW, benefitting locals but harming Macarthur’s business.
Bligh also wanted to build a town in an area of landed granted to Macarthur
What was the cause for the rum rebellion
- John Macarthur got arrested for sedition, but the other six members of the court were affiliated with the rum corps and therefore were able to dissolve court claiming a biased judge on the 25th January 1808
- On 26th January 1808 Bligh ordered the rearrest of Macarthur and the 6 corps, but his general Major Johnston secretly freed Macarthur
- Johnston then issued a letter calling for the resignation of Bligh
- The same day they entered Bligh’s home, found him and placed him on house arrest with Bligh unable to do anything about it
What happened to Macarthur and the NSW Corps
They knew the new governor would arrest them so many including Macarthur left for England
What were the 3 ‘goals’ of MacQuarie upon taking power in NSW
- Cancel all decisions taken by the rbeel government during the Bligh Years
- Break the power of the NSW Corps who have been ruling
- Side with the emancipists and the currency (emancipist descendants) over the exclusives and the sterling (exclusive descendants)
What two criteria could be used to assess how successful MacQuarie was
- To what extent he met his original objectives
- The extent to which the measures he implemented were successful in building a nation
