australia

Cards (22)

  • The First Fleet (1788)- convicts punished by transportation led by Arthur Phillip. They found Botany Bay lacked fertile soil and water so sailed to Sydney Cove where the colony was founded.
  • Why Australia was needed- American independence meant criminals couldn't be transported there. Britain's prison system lacked space due to urbanisation and poverty. Juries were less likely to use the death penalty so better punishments were needed.
  • The Second Fleet (1790)- The Lady Juliana brougt women convicts to Australia along with diseases. They also brought livestock and crops that were needed by the settlers who had used all of their resources up.
  • Irish Prisoners- The largest single group in the colony and had been transported for their Catholicism. An attempt to overthrow Governor King was foiled in 1804 by the New South Wale Corps.
  • British problems that coincided with Macquarie's tenure- introduction of silver money in place of rum that had previously been the currency. End of the Napoleonic Wars saw an increase in crime and those transported to Australia, enabling Macquarie's public growth projects.
  • Macquarie removed the New South Wales corps- they threatened governor power and drank to excess. It meant that he could be sympathetic to convicts and help develop the colony.
  • Macquarie improved lives- He allowed a convict, Redfern, to deliver his baby. He allowed women to inherit property and business from their husbands.
  • Convict experience- minor transgressions led to 100 lashings. Men outnumbered women 6:1 and sexual assault was common. Skilled labourers were rewarded like Greenway who was commissioned as the architect for Macquarie's infrastructure.
  • Macquarie was known to be lenient, issuing many early pardons and tickets of leave to allow convicts to create a new life for themselves.
  • Land Grants- Macquarie granted land on Rose Hill to the convicts along the Hawkesbury River where the soil was fertile and a good source of oysters. However, expansion did lead to conflicts with the Aboriginals where 14 Aborigines died in an attack.
  • Growth of Macquarie towns- paternalism meant he invested in churches, roads, schools and hospitals. Rum Hospital was given licence to trade rum to allow for continued income. Towns were called Richmond and Windsor.
  • Aboriginal conflicts- Cook ignored their presence and called Australia a 'Terra nullis'. 2 convicts were murdered by them so Phillip flogged them publicly, leading to increased tensions.
  • Deaths of indigenous people- smallpox wiped out 50%, The Black War led to many deaths and guns to kill kangaroos were used against the aboriginals too. The last aboriginal Australian died in 1876.
  • Population distribution (1828)- the free population outnumbered the convict population by 5000 people.
  • Van Dieman's Land- set up in 1803 as a penal colony. Under Governor George Arthur, the colony was totalitarian and split into police districts. Convicts had to work through 7 layers of punishment before they were freed such as black-listing (removing assigned labour).
  • Whaling and sealing- the industry boomed as the water were rich with whales and seals. 1805, Robert Campbell took 260 tons of oil and 34,000 skins bound for England, securing free trade to earn a living.
  • Sheep farming- by 1805, the colony was self-sufficient and there were 20,000 sheep. In 1830, wool exports were valued at £2 million .
  • The Crossing of the Blue Mountain (1813)- was a search led by an aboriginal guide that found grazing plains to support the colony for 30 years. Macquarie hired ex-convicts and convicts to build a road across to increase the colony's size.
  • Swan River Company- sent 10,000 free settlers to the Swan River in exchange for land grants. It created Western Australia and in 1832, it had only 1500 colonists.
  • Political recommendations- Bigge concluded an inquiry into whether transportation was an effective punishment saying Macquarie took the colony in the wrong direction. He said convicts should work on sheep farms, early pardons should stop and ex-convicts should not be given positions of importance.
  • New South Wales Act (1823)- created a legislative council, an independent judiciary and allowed Van Dieman's Land to operate as a separate colony.
  • Restricted power (1829)- governor power was restricted by frequent communication and intervention from London. They also had to formally consult citizens before making decisions.