Lexi Webster
Australia's human history dates back between 50,000 and 65,000 years, with the arrival of the ancestors of Aboriginal Australians from Maritime Southeast Asia. However, the country as we know it today was settled by Britain, with Captain Arthur Phillip guiding a fleet of 11 British ships carrying convicts to the colony of New South Wales on 26 January 1788. This marked the beginning of British colonisation in Australia, with the continent's Indigenous people gradually being dispossessed of their land.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Country that settled Australia | Britain/United Kingdom |
| Date of settlement | 26 January 1788 |
| Type of settlement | Penal colony |
| Number of ships in the First Fleet | 11 |
| Number of convicts in the First Fleet | 700+ |
| Total number of convicts transported over 150 years | 50,000 |
| Year modern Australia was established | 1 January 1901 |
| Indigenous population before settlement | Aboriginal Australians, Torres Strait Islanders |
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What You'll Learn
- Captain Arthur Phillip led the first fleet of British ships to Australia
- The British settlement of Australia began as a penal colony
- Aboriginal resistance to British encroachment often led to reprisals
- The human history of Australia begins with the arrival of Aboriginal Australians
- The British settlement of Australia began on 26 January 1788
Captain Arthur Phillip led the first fleet of British ships to Australia
The Commonwealth of Australia, a federation of former British colonies, came into existence on 1 January 1901. The human history of Australia, however, goes back tens of thousands of years, with the arrival and settlement of the ancestors of Aboriginal Australians.
Captain Arthur Phillip, an experienced naval officer, led the First Fleet of British ships to Australia. The fleet consisted of 11 ships carrying convicts from Britain to Australia, marking the beginning of the European colonisation of Australia and the waves of convict transportation that lasted until 1868. The First Fleet transported a group of settlers to mainland Australia, with over 1,400 convicts, marines, sailors, colonial officials, and free settlers on board. The fleet left Portsmouth in May 1787 and travelled over 24,000 kilometres (15,000 miles) and over 250 days before arriving in Botany Bay on 18 January 1788.
Governor Arthur Phillip rejected Botany Bay, choosing instead Port Jackson, to the north, as the site for the new colony. They arrived there on 26 January 1788, establishing the colony of New South Wales, a penal colony that would become the first British settlement in Australia. The colony was founded as an agricultural work camp for British convicts. Phillip proved to be an enthusiastic and thorough leader who dealt with the challenges of the early years of settlement. He was prepared to punish those who broke the rules, but also rewarded convicts and free settlers who behaved well.
The first years of settlement were difficult, with the colony nearly facing outright starvation. The first crops failed due to a lack of skilled farmers, poor soil, an unfamiliar climate, and bad tools. Phillip persevered by appointing convicts to positions of responsibility and oversight. Floggings and hangings were commonplace, but so was egalitarianism.
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The British settlement of Australia began as a penal colony
The early years of the colony were challenging, with poor soil, an unfamiliar climate, and a lack of farming knowledge among the convicts. The settlement faced the constant threat of starvation and civil unrest, particularly from Irish convicts. Governor Hunter sought to address this by forming Loyal Associations, or English volunteer units, to maintain order. Governor King also recruited ex-convicts as a military bodyguard, creating the first full-time military unit in Australia.
British troops played a role in suppressing convict uprisings and resisting the Aboriginal population's resistance to British settlement. However, their primary role was to guard against external attacks, and they rarely engaged in conflicts with Indigenous Australians. The military presence in Australia declined after 1840 with the end of convict transportation to New South Wales, and the last British regiment left in 1870, leaving the colonies to assume responsibility for their defence.
The British settlement of Australia as a penal colony had far-reaching consequences, including the dispossession of Indigenous people from their land and the coerced labour and genocide that characterised the colonisation process. The history of this period has been a subject of debate and controversy in Australia, with some emphasising the negative aspects while others promote a more positive view of the nation's founding.
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Aboriginal resistance to British encroachment often led to reprisals
The British settled Australia, beginning on January 26, 1788, when Captain Arthur Phillip guided 11 ships of convicts to the colony of New South Wales. The modern nation of Australia came into existence on January 1, 1901, as a federation of former British colonies.
The British responded to Aboriginal resistance with military force. In 1816, Governor Macquarie dispatched a detachment of the 46th Regiment of Foot to end the conflict with the Darug people. This detachment patrolled the Hawkesbury Valley and ended the conflict by killing 14 Indigenous Australians in an ambush on their campsite.
In addition to military force, the British also employed punitive expeditions and organised massacres to quell Aboriginal resistance. The most infamous massacre in New South Wales occurred at Myall Creek Station in 1838, where 28 Aboriginal people were murdered by stockmen. Another example is the Campaspe Plains massacre in 1839, which was a reprisal raid against Aboriginal resistance in central Victoria.
The conflict between the British and Aboriginal Australians resulted in a drastic decline in the Aboriginal population. In addition to violent conflict, the introduction of diseases and the dispossession of traditional lands also contributed to the decline. The Aboriginal resistance took the form of guerrilla warfare, with individuals or small groups of settlers ambushed and isolated settlements attacked.
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The human history of Australia begins with the arrival of Aboriginal Australians
As sea levels rose, the people on the Australian mainland and nearby islands became increasingly isolated, some on Tasmania and some of the smaller offshore islands when the land was inundated at the start of the Holocene, the inter-glacial period that started about 11,700 years ago. Despite this, Aboriginal people maintained extensive networks within the continent and certain groups maintained relationships with Torres Strait Islanders and the Makassar people of modern-day Indonesia. Over the millennia, Aboriginal people developed complex trade networks, inter-cultural relationships, law and religions, which make up some of the oldest continuous cultures in the world.
Genetic studies have revealed that a population wave from the Persian plateau during the Initial Upper Paleolithic period populated the Asia-Pacific region via a southern route dispersal. This wave subsequently diverged into the ancestors of Ancient Ancestral S. Aboriginal Australians are genetically most closely related to other Oceanians, such as Papuans and Melanesians, who are collectively referred to as "Australasians".
When British settlers began colonizing Australia in 1788, many Aboriginal Australians lived there. Researchers estimate there were between 750,000 and over a million at the time. Soon, epidemics ravaged the island’s Indigenous populations, and British settlers seized their lands. First Nations people resisted. Up to 20,000 people died in violent conflicts on the colony’s frontiers. However, most were defeated by massacres and the poverty of their communities as British settlers took their lands. Researchers have documented at least 270 massacres of Aboriginal Australians during Australia’s first 140 years.
The term “genocide” remains controversial. However, many believe that the continent’s first inhabitants were wiped out through violence. The conflict between Europeans and Aboriginal Australians followed a broadly similar pattern. At first, the Aborigines tolerated the settlers and sometimes welcomed them. But when it became apparent that the settlers and their livestock had come to stay, competition for access to the land developed and friction between the two ways of life became inevitable.
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The British settlement of Australia began on 26 January 1788
The British settlement of Australia was the result of a series of proposals and plans for Britain to establish a colony of banished convicts outside of North America, where Britain had lost most of its colonies following the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783). In 1766, John Callander proposed that Britain found a convict colony in the South Sea or Terra Australis. In 1779, Sir Joseph Banks, who had accompanied James Cook on his 1770 voyage, recommended Botany Bay as a suitable site for a penal settlement. Following an interview with Secretary of State Lord Sydney in 1784, American Loyalist James Matra, who had travelled with Cook, produced a new plan for colonising New South Wales, which included using convicts as settlers.
On 13 May 1787, the First Fleet of 11 ships and about 1,500 people, including 736 convicts, set sail for Botany Bay. The voyage lasted eight months, covering over 24,000 kilometres and claiming the lives of about 30 men. The first years of settlement were challenging due to poor soil, an unfamiliar climate, and a lack of knowledge about farming. The colony nearly starved, and the marines sent to keep order struggled to maintain control. Governor Arthur Phillip proved to be a tough and fair-minded leader, and the colony persevered by appointing convicts to positions of responsibility.
The British settlement of Australia led to conflict with the Indigenous Aboriginal Australians, who had lived on the continent for between 50,000 and 65,000 years. As the settlers expanded onto Aboriginal land, competition for access to the land developed, and friction between the two groups became inevitable. The settlers' behaviour, including the killing of individuals over specific grievances, led to reprisals from the Aboriginal population. The British troops main job was to maintain civil order and suppress Aboriginal resistance to British settlement.
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Frequently asked questions
Britain.
British settlement in Australia began on 26 January 1788.
Britain was looking to establish replacement territories after losing most of its North American colonies in the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783).
Australia was originally called New South Wales.
