Why did the British settle in Australia?
Between 1788 and 1850 the English sent over 162,000 convicts to Australia in 806 ships. The first eleven of these ships are today known as the First Fleet and it carried convicts, marines, crewman, officials and children. Captain James Cook discovered the east coast of New Holland (Australia) in 1770 and named it New South Wales.
As more people were moving to the city, Britain got more crowded. More people were unemployed and went broke. So they started to commit more crimes, which overcrowded the goals and hulks. After the American Revolution, the English couldn't send more convicts over to America. They didn't want to send the convicts over to Africa because of all the diseases and it was to hot. So they decided to create a new penal colony on the land discovered by Captain James Cook.
Australia was chosen because it was surrounded by water and it would be hard for the convicts to escape. There are nearby islands which could be useful for them .They also wanted to open the Pacific area as a trading base and to start a Defence post or a naval base.
The British government solved the problem but it turned out to be the start of a new country.
Before 1788, there were at least 750,000 aborigines living in Australia. These indigenous people had inhabited Australia for more than 10,000 years. Not many of them have seen white people before in their life.
As more British arrived in Australia, their lands were taken over and they were forced back into the bush and into the territories of other Aborigines. They cleared out most of the Aboriginal homes and trees. This changed their food sources and their living. The Aboriginal culture started to disappear. There were lots of wars going between them, many of the Aborigines lost their lives. The British started to poison the water and food so the aboriginal could to die. But more Aborigines died from diseases which were introduce by the British, like: Smallpox, influenza, measles, and whooping
As more people were moving to the city, Britain got more crowded. More people were unemployed and went broke. So they started to commit more crimes, which overcrowded the goals and hulks. After the American Revolution, the English couldn't send more convicts over to America. They didn't want to send the convicts over to Africa because of all the diseases and it was to hot. So they decided to create a new penal colony on the land discovered by Captain James Cook.
Australia was chosen because it was surrounded by water and it would be hard for the convicts to escape. There are nearby islands which could be useful for them .They also wanted to open the Pacific area as a trading base and to start a Defence post or a naval base.
The British government solved the problem but it turned out to be the start of a new country.
Before 1788, there were at least 750,000 aborigines living in Australia. These indigenous people had inhabited Australia for more than 10,000 years. Not many of them have seen white people before in their life.
As more British arrived in Australia, their lands were taken over and they were forced back into the bush and into the territories of other Aborigines. They cleared out most of the Aboriginal homes and trees. This changed their food sources and their living. The Aboriginal culture started to disappear. There were lots of wars going between them, many of the Aborigines lost their lives. The British started to poison the water and food so the aboriginal could to die. But more Aborigines died from diseases which were introduce by the British, like: Smallpox, influenza, measles, and whooping