European Settlement in Australia Provide the Catalyst for the Near Destruction of Indigenous Society
Essay Topic: European settlement in Australia provided the catalyst for the near destruction of Indigenous society
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 Aboriginal population. The Aboriginal children had been taken away from their families and were forced to dress like the Europeans and learn their culture. Many of the things that the Europeans did led to a gradual destruction of the Aboriginal society.
During European settlement, Europeans took the land from the Aboriginal people because the land to them was said to be terra nullius which is land belonging to no one. The Europeans believed that the Indigenous Australians didn’t use the land to its full potential. The Aboriginal People did not grow crops; hunt all the animal or build buildings on the land. They said that the land was not used to benefit the Aboriginal People at all. The settlers acknowledged the presence of Indigenous people but they justified that they had the right to take over and own the land because by saying that the Aboriginal people were too primitive to be actual owners of the land. Because the land was not used properly according to the Europeans, they thought that they had the right to take it away from the people who have been living there for over 40 000 years. When the European people came to Australia, they knew that the Aboriginal people were living there but because the Indigenous Australians moved
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 Aboriginal population. The Aboriginal children had been taken away from their families and were forced to dress like the Europeans and learn their culture. Many of the things that the Europeans did led to a gradual destruction of the Aboriginal society.
During European settlement, Europeans took the land from the Aboriginal people because the land to them was said to be terra nullius which is land belonging to no one. The Europeans believed that the Indigenous Australians didn’t use the land to its full potential. The Aboriginal People did not grow crops; hunt all the animal or build buildings on the land. They said that the land was not used to benefit the Aboriginal People at all. The settlers acknowledged the presence of Indigenous people but they justified that they had the right to take over and own the land because by saying that the Aboriginal people were too primitive to be actual owners of the land. Because the land was not used properly according to the Europeans, they thought that they had the right to take it away from the people who have been living there for over 40 000 years. When the European people came to Australia, they knew that the Aboriginal people were living there but because the Indigenous Australians moved
Bibliography: * Carrodus, G. (2012). Oxford Big Ideas Australian Curriculum History 9. Oxford University Press, Australia. * Jens Korff. Myall Creek Massacre. 2012. http://www.creativespirits.info/aboriginalculture/history/myall-creek-massacre-1838 * iEARN 's HG [ 2 ]. Jens Korff. Myall Creek Massacre. 2012. Cited from http://www.creativespirits.info/aboriginalculture/history/myall-creek-massacre-1838 [ 3 ] [ 4 ]. ENIAR. The Stolen Generations. 2009. Cited from http://www.eniar.org/stolengenerations.html [ 5 ]