Why did the British colonize Australia?

Answer 1

The British decided to colonise Australia for several reasons:

1. To expand the British empire, and prevent the French from gaining a foothold in the Australian continent or in the southwest Pacific.

2. To solve the problem of Britain's overcrowded prisons (a consequence of the Industrial Revolution) by establishing a new penal colony in a land which showed promise for eventually becoming self-supporting. Britain had been sending their excess prisoners to North America, but the American War of Independence put a stop to the practice. Following this, the English were no longer able to transport surplus prisoners who couldn't legally be executed to North America.

3. Australia could provide commercial and political gains to Britain. Great Britain had grand plans for the continent, even (according to the June 1791 edition of the British "Lady's Magazine") planning spice plantations for the northwest corner of New South Wales, expected to bring considerable commercial advantages.

4. Due to war, Britain needed to find an alternative supply of Flax and timber as her Baltic supply was under threat. It was believed that nearby Norfolk Island would provide this.

5. Britain needed a port in the East to promote trade with China and to extend its naval and commercial power.

6. The continent had Natural Resources which England wanted.

The first permanent settlers arrived in Australia with the First Fleet on 26 January 1788 to set up the new penal colony.

Colonisation was simplified for Britain, which was able to prove to the satisfaction of the judicial system that Australia was terra nullius - a land without ownership - because the English found difficulty in locating any individual(s) able to negotiate a treaty with the indigenous inhabitants; this concept was first tested and found valid in 1827.

The fact that there were local inhabitants all over the continent didn't make much impression on the colonists, except for their nuisance value or as cheap or free labour: they'd no written language that Europeans found comprehensible, didn't wear clothes, and built nothing recognisable as houses; settlers viewed them in much the way they viewed kangaroos and possums.

The terra nullius ruling was eventually overturned by the Australian High Court in 1992 (the Mabo decision) and later reinforced by the Wik decision in 1996.

It is important to note that, although other countries had the opportunity to colonise Australia, they chose not to. Australia was first "officially" discovered by Dutch traders in the East Indies: however, they landed in the west, one of the least forgiving areas of the continent and decided that it was not worth colonising. Likewise the French, hearing of the Dutch discovery, sent an expedition to map more of the coast. This did not, however, lead to any attempts to colonise and the continent was left alone for another hundred years. Even the English pirate and explorer William Dampier, who also landed in the northwest, dismissed the continent as uninhabitable.

It was not until James Cook's successful voyage which involved charting the eastern coast of Australia, that New South Wales was seen as a viable proposition for a convict colony. In particular, it was endorsed by Sir Joseph Banks, the influential botanist who travelled with Cook. Banks was one of three botanists aboard Cook's ship "The Endeavour", and he was a passionate advocate of British settlement and colonisation of the Australian continent. It was largely upon Cook's and Banks's recommendation that Australian ultimately was colonised by the British, and not by another power later.

Answer 2

The British decided to colonise Australia for several reasons:

1. To expand the British empire, and prevent the French from gaining a foothold in the Australian continent or in the southwest Pacific.

2. To solve the problem of Britain's overcrowded prisons (a consequence of the Industrial Revolution) by establishing a new penal colony in a land which showed promise for eventually becoming self-supporting. Britain had been sending their excess prisoners to North America, but the American War of Independence put a stop to the practice. Following this, the English were no longer able to transport surplus prisoners who couldn't legally be executed to North America.

3. Australia could provide commercial and political gains to Britain. Great Britain had grand plans for the continent, even (according to the June 1791 edition of the British "Lady's Magazine") planning spice plantations for the northwest corner of New South Wales, expected to bring considerable commercial advantages.

4. Due to war, Britain needed to find an alternative supply of Flax and timber as her Baltic supply was under threat. It was believed that nearby Norfolk Island would provide this.

5. Britain needed a port in the East to promote trade with China and to extend its naval and commercial power.

6. The continent had Natural Resources which England wanted.

The first permanent settlers arrived in Australia with the First Fleet on 26 January 1788 to set up the new penal colony.

Colonisation was simplified for Britain, which was able to prove to the satisfaction of the judicial system that Australia was terra nullius - a land without ownership - because the English found difficulty in locating any individual(s) able to negotiate a treaty with the indigenous inhabitants; this concept was first tested and found valid in 1827.

The fact that there were local inhabitants all over the continent didn't make much impression on the colonists, except for their nuisance value or as cheap or free labour: they'd no written language that Europeans found comprehensible, didn't wear clothes, and built nothing recognisable as houses; settlers viewed them in much the way they viewed kangaroos and possums.

The terra nullius ruling was eventually overturned by the Australian High Court in 1992 (the Mabo decision) and later reinforced by the Wik decision in 1996.

It is important to note that, although other countries had the opportunity to colonise Australia, they chose not to. Australia was first "officially" discovered by Dutch traders in the East Indies: however, they landed in the west, one of the least forgiving areas of the continent and decided that it was not worth colonising. Likewise the French, hearing of the Dutch discovery, sent an expedition to map more of the coast. This did not, however, lead to any attempts to colonise and the continent was left alone for another hundred years. Even the English pirate and explorer William Dampier, who also landed in the northwest, dismissed the continent as uninhabitable.

It was not until James Cook's successful voyage which involved charting the eastern coast of Australia, that New South Wales was seen as a viable proposition for a convict colony. In particular, it was endorsed by Sir Joseph Banks, the influential botanist who travelled with Cook. Banks was one of three botanists aboard Cook's ship "The Endeavour", and he was a passionate advocate of British settlement and colonisation of the Australian continent. It was largely upon Cook's and Banks's recommendation that Australian ultimately was colonised by the British, and not by another power later.