Britains Reasons for Colonizing Australia - Term Paper Example

Running Head: ABORIGINAL Aboriginal Client Inserts His/her Name Client Inserts Name of Institution 1Britain’s reasons for colonizing Australia Abstract Through history, we learn that living conditions in Britain during the 18th century proved to be tough. This is because the industrial revolution that had become famous within the British people had made earning an honest wage within the British people harder. This came as a result of using machines in carrying out simpler tasks meaning that manpower was being replaced by the use of machines due to the increase of technology at that period. The increase in the use of machine to accomplish various activities meant that there was the rise in an employment which could later on lead to increase in the crime level within the British society (Graham 1995, 66). There was the theft of basic commodities such as food as well as clothing which later lead to the authorities electing on clamping down heavily on those individuals that had minor penalties with the hope of stemming the behaviour of rising crime. The crimes meant that there were rising numbers of law breakers such that the British prison system was later on full and overflowing which lead to the decision of getting new places that could accommodate the prison inmates. At this time, it was evident that the American colonies were viable no more as a result of the American independence war. This made the British to resort into the use of hulks to put the convicts at night though this turned out to be unhealthy due to overcrowding (Ged 1981, 64). Africa and the West Indies which could have acted as possible destinations for the convicts were rendered as being unsuitable due to climate and diseases with the other option- India- already being crowded. As a result of Captain Cook’s south pacific voyage in the year 1770, it was notable that the New Holland which was previously an uncharted continent could turn out to be suitable. Previously, Cook had taken over roughly the eastern half of the continent in favour of England later on naming it New South Wales. He then decided that there could be a southern bay of which he named Botany Bay which to him could provide ideal conditions in favour of a penal colony. The colony that could later on lead to the establishment of the Britain’s claim over Australia could later on help in the expansion of the British Empire on the south pacific as well as providing a physical presence within that area. The establishment meant that England could get both economic and strategic advantages in the region. The presence of a colony also meant that whereas the French were also rapidly expanding, England was in a much better position of laying a claim to Australia. Through the above analysis it is viable that the following reasons lead to the British to colonise Australia: For the expansion of the British Empire as well as preventing the French from gaining a foothold within the Australian continent or towards parts of the pacific. It is also known that the Australian continent was rich with natural resources that the British were in need of. Another reason was that the British were in need of solving the overcrowded prisons problem and that lead them to coming up with a new penal colony within a land that had the promise of becoming a self supporting entity. Sir Joseph Banks also worked as a major force in the colonisation of Australia by the British due to his recommendation as well as the support that came in from Cook. Cook had to claim the Eastern coast of Australia also known as New South Wales at that time in the year 1770 a feat that was pointed down to his recommendation with Banks’ From the above study, it is evident that the British targeted Botany Bay in getting themselves taking over Australia. The reason as to why the British decided to colonise Botany Bay will give a reflection as to why Australia at large was being targeted by the British as a potential colony. As seen earlier on, through the evaluation as to why the British colonised Botany Bay hence Australia, there could be a multitude of conclusions that could be drawn as reason for the invasion. The British’s first fleet that is thought to have arrived in Australia Botany Bay in January the year 1788, had little realisation that there could be an establishment in years down the line that could establish the reason as to why the British parliament had settled for Botany Bay as an established colony. There started a debate over the Botany Bay which began in the 1950s when Geoffrey Blainey came up with the proposition that Botany Bay was only being colonised for solely strategic issues rather than the issue of convicts. Some of the strategies he mentions include the plans of establishing a plant nursery that was to be established on the Norfolk Island and Australia with the aim of making it a flax farm. As explained by the British politicians through their many letters, the timber and flax as a result of the firm were vital to the British economy. This lead to another debate through Blainey’s argument, that Botany Bay was being colonised as it proved to be a fair outpost for the purposes of trade.2 Traditionally, there was the view that Botany Bay was basically a chosen place to serve the convict population. The notion of coming up with a colony in Botany Bay was as a result of Matra’s proposal in August the year 1783. This came as a result of a disagreement due to Matra’s idea about a new colony with American who had seemed to show loyalty to the British during the war of independence. After the idea was rejected by all, there was a proposal that Botany Bay could serve as the ideal place to the overgrowing number of convict hulks along the overpopulated goals as well as the river Thames. The idea took centre stage in the prospect of dealing with the convicts’ effective disposal to the new colony. Britain continued sending convicts to Australia for many decades and throughout this period, the cost of transporting the convicts proved to be decreasing and seemed much better as compared to using hulks which were overcrowded as well as the feeding costs. Before the prospect of using the Botany Bay as a colony, the British were transporting their convicts to American colonies. This lasted until 1776 where there stopped the transportation due to the American War of Independence. Due to their action to pull out of the American colonies, the British had to come up with a new alternative of punishment and this is when they came up with the Hulks Act. Later on the British had to resolute to coming up with a more suitable site out of Britain and this is where Botany Bay was being use as an answer. In Phillips Instructions, there was evidence as well as references as to the reasons of convict transportation to the Botany Bay. Phillips Instructions as well as Governor Phillips first despatch both had the reference of the idea that the working costs within the new colony would be much cheaper as those working could be cutting their transport costs and at the same time provide a cheaper labour outlet to the British government. The debate over the Botany Bay has though been expanded and questions have been asked about the 1786 draft with the unsigned letter that was meant for Hamilton. Through the letter it is discovered that the convicts that could be sent to Botany Bay would be employees in vegetable productions as well as the cultivation of grain for their substance. This proves that the British were not solely concerned with the prospect of getting a place to put their convicts but also make life better to their citizens hence improving their economic strategies. Away from the issue of convicts, another issue that made Australia an ideal area for British colonization was that the place was an empty, untouched continent that could be occupied without much opposition from the Natives. It is known that Dutch navigators were the first to discover most parts of Australia before the arrival of Cook. Cook noted that though there was a number of the Native population who seemed docile with less or no intention of resisting the Europeans incursions. The British found out that they could involve themselves in cultivation as a good portion of the Australian land was idle due to the involvement of the locals in activities of hunting and gathering. Finally we can talk of imperialism as another reason that led to the British colonising Australia. Imperialism is the situation whereby a given country stamps its authority over a new land that doesn’t belong to them and start establishing their ruling there. An example is where by during the 1900s the British Empire took control of more than five continents while France was taking control over many African countries (Holger 2004, 166). The need to acquire the new lands was instigated by the rise of industrialization which meant that countries needed new markets. Britain and France owned larger portions of land which lead up to rivalry with the Germany who joined the scramble to late meaning they only had small areas of Africa. The fight for supremacy meant that between the British and the French, none was ready to be held as an underdog to another and therefore they were fighting had to stamp their authority over many countries in larger parts of the continents. Though the British used the idea of convict and punishment, through the study it can be established that there were much more than just the issue of convicts in invading Australia (David 1985, 22).3 References Abbott, Graham. ‘The excepted cost of the Botany Bay scheme’ in Journal of the Royal Historical Society, Vol. 81, Part 2, Sydney,1995. Barlett, Norman. 1776 – 1976: Australia and America through 200 years, Ure Smith, Sydney, 1976. Mackay, David. A Place of Exile: European Settlement of New South Wales, Oxford University Press, Melbourne, 1985. Martin, Ged (ed.). The Founding of Australia: The Argument about Australia’s Origins, Hale and Iremonger, Sydney, 1981. Richard, Holger. Decisions for War, 1914-1917 New York: Cambridge University Press, 2004. Read More