The Whig government had abolished slavery throughout the Empire in 1833, and discontinued transportation to New South Wales in 1840. A main feature of this period was the populating of large territories by Europeans. Emigration from Britain increased during the 1840’s due to famine. Approximately six million people emigrated from Britain between 1831 and 1871, to the colonies of Canada, New Zealand, and Australia. The early nineteenth century was characterised by the shift away from the use of slaves towards the use of free labour “under the rising hegemony of industrial capitalism.” In 1837, colonies such as Canada, Australia, and New Zealand had yet to receive the millions of emigrants from Britain and other European countries, sparing the indigenous peoples of these lands the full impact of colonial hegemony. However, the Aborigines Report clearly shows that the negative effects of colonisation on indigenous populations were already heavily felt in the early nineteenth
The Whig government had abolished slavery throughout the Empire in 1833, and discontinued transportation to New South Wales in 1840. A main feature of this period was the populating of large territories by Europeans. Emigration from Britain increased during the 1840’s due to famine. Approximately six million people emigrated from Britain between 1831 and 1871, to the colonies of Canada, New Zealand, and Australia. The early nineteenth century was characterised by the shift away from the use of slaves towards the use of free labour “under the rising hegemony of industrial capitalism.” In 1837, colonies such as Canada, Australia, and New Zealand had yet to receive the millions of emigrants from Britain and other European countries, sparing the indigenous peoples of these lands the full impact of colonial hegemony. However, the Aborigines Report clearly shows that the negative effects of colonisation on indigenous populations were already heavily felt in the early nineteenth