What impact did British colonization have on Australia?

Answer 1

Australia was a holding places for convicts back in the days of British Imperialism. The people they imprisoned suffered.

They drive on the left side of the road. They speak English. The British brought rabbits to Australia, now the rabbits are everywhere, because in Australia the rabbits do not have a predator. Australia has a very British culture. Australia is still a British territory unlike USA. They also caused the stolen generation and brought many pests that we still have problems example: cane toads. They caused a massive deforestation they cut down nearly half of New South Wales's trees and final drove the Tasmanian tiger to extinction
Depends on when you are talking about.

Great brittian was known as our 'mother country' because of our bonds with it. After all - the British claimed Australia, didn't they? So Australia tried to be exactly the same as them, so that Australia was a little great brittain.

Answer 2

When the white settlers came, the Aborigines were dispossessed of their land and, much later, "encouraged" onto reserves, supposedly for their protection. They were forced off their traditional hunting grounds, and certainly herded away from the fertile coastal areas where there was plenty of food. White settlers wrecked the very effective native fishing traps, cleared native habitats and reduced the native food supplies, as well as polluting their water.

Massacres of the indigenous people occurred on a regular basis. The Coniston massacre, the massacre at Myall Creek, the "Battle of Risdon" in Tasmania and many others, all were perpetrated against the Aborigines by the Europeans. There were years of conflict between Tasmanian Aborigines and white settlers which eventually resulted in the loss of the purebred aboriginal race from Tasmania - virtually genocide.

The Europeans also introduced foods and diseases, all of which were perfectly harmless to the white settlers, but lowered the life expectancy of the aboriginal people. Simple diseases like Measles and Influenza had devastating effects on Aborigines. Foods containing wheat and sugar resulted in Heart disease and obesity among the indigenous Australians. Europeans introduced new flora and fauna which took over native habitat, leading to the extinction of many plants and animals on which the Aborigines relied.

When the aboriginal children were forcibly taken from their families, this directly led to a loss of culture, language, customs and traditions among the Aborigines. When the Europeans first came to Australia, there were around 250 different aboriginal languages in Australia. There is just a fraction of that number now. Many stories from the aboriginal Dreaming (creation legends) have disappeared forever.

Answer 3

Parts of Australia became apart of the British Empire in 1770 until in 1788 a British settlement was built in what is today Sydney. Eventually, settlement spread and the British Empire laid claim to the entire continent. Many indigenous peoples were displaced but no serious resistance was ever formed.

After 113 years of British rule, Australia finally became a federated nation in 1901. However, both nations remained both socially and culturally similar and kept a strong trade and alliance between the two. Federation should not be confused with independence, as true independence for Australia did not come until 1986.

Australia proved it was an effective self-governing nation in 1914 in the start of WW1. Australians served along British troops and were sometimes commanded by them too.

Some people today claim that Australia is suffering from a culture cringe left over from the colonial period. For example, there is strong support for the Australian flag which still bears the union flag in the upper left corner, this traditionally represents a colony. Support for the monarchy is also very widely supported in 2011 rising in support since a low in 1999.

Australia has been impacted deeply via its time as an outpost of the Empire. This has led to Australia having similar cultural, values, literature, language, and food to the UK.

Even though Australia is bombarded with American culture, television, etc. Australia is still far more like the people in Britain.

Answer 4

Colonisation by the British had a widespread and lasting impact on the indigenous people of Australia.

The first of these was the inevitable clash of cultures which were so completely different from each other. There were misunderstandings that resulted in hostilities between the whites and the Aborigines. At first the Aborigines regarded the strange white men in large ships as ghosts, possibly ghosts of their own ancestors. They were prepared to deal with them peacefully. As long as the two groups of people stayed out of each other's way, there was no conflict.

The real problems started when cultural misunderstandings occurred. In one example, Captain Arthur Phillip sought to meet with an aboriginal tribesman on the beach. In standard English manner, he thrust out his hand in welcome, to shake hands. Not understanding the cultural context, the Aborigine believed it was an act of aggression, and speared him in the shoulder.

The Aborigines had no concept of ownership, and they did not see why the white strangers couldn't share the land. They also didn't see why they were not permitted to spear the big, easy-to-catch livestock of the white settlers for their own food. These beasts were valuable and so naturally, the white settlers saw the aboriginal actions as attacks, and hostilities began to grow, with landowners sometimes gathering together and setting out to eradicate groups of "troublesome" Aborigines.

The arrival of the First Fleet meant that Aborigines were forced off their land. Although this did not happen immediately, it was certainly a lasting impact. Many aboriginal tribes were forced from the abundant coastal areas where food was plentiful, into the more arid interior areas. To Aborigines, the connection with their homelands is part of their very identity, and the loss of their home was a wrenching process for them. It led to feelings of dispossession, feelings which have continued to this day. European colonisation had an effect on the manner in which the Aborigines caught their food as well. The indigenous people were skilled fishermen, and constructed fish traps that effectively herded shoals of fish where they could be easily caught. The white settlers destroyed these fish traps, because as far as they were concerned, they interfered with the flow of the river.

The arrival of the First Fleet also brought the introduction of diseases to which the Aborigines had no immunity. between the years 1788 and 1900, it has been estimated that as much as 90% of the aboriginal population was lost. Tasmanian Aborigines were completely eradicated. Simple diseases like measles, chickenpox and the 'flu led to epidemics that swept through the aboriginal camps, wiping out many of them. For the first time, Aborigines faced real death and disease, which could not be countered by their bush medicines. There were also the more deadly diseases like smallpox.

The First Fleet brought foods that were harmful to the Aborigines, again because they were not used to them. Flour, tea, tobacco and even alcohol were introduced, leading to obesity and Alcoholism that has continued right through the generations.

The First Fleet and subsequent European occupation also resulted in the introduction of many new animal and plant species, which ultimately led to the extinction or near-extinction of many, many native species. The balance of the land and the environment was lost, particularly once tree-clearing started and agriculture was introduced.

Later on, Europeans interfered with the aboriginal way of life to the point where they took the aboriginal children away from their families. They believed the Aborigines were incapable of raising their children properly. The children were taught to be white, but often they were treated badly, and as little more than servants. This led to the loss of the aboriginal culture, languages and traditions, as the children gradually forgot everything they had been brought up to believe, and lacked the contact with their tribal elders to reinforce this knowledge and pass it on to their own children.

There were many more impacts of the First Fleet and subsequent Europeans settlements on the aboriginal people, but these are the main ones.

Answer 5

This is a huge topic that cannot be answered simply.

Introducing new plants and animals had, in some cases, a devastating effect on the environment. More native species of animals in Australia have become extinct in the last two hundred years compared to any other continent on Earth. Deforestation and destruction of habitat as the Europeans cleared land and built settlements certainly impacted on the environment.

Colonisation by the Europeans had a lasting effect on the Aborigines, their culture and way of life, freedom and their very future. When the white settlers came, the Aborigines were dispossessed of their land and, much later, "encouraged" onto reserves, supposedly for their protection. They were forced off their traditional hunting grounds, and certainly herded away from the fertile coastal areas where there was plenty of food. White settlers wrecked the very effective native fishing traps, cleared native habitats and reduced the native food supplies, as well as polluting their water.

Massacres of the indigenous people occurred on a regular basis. The Coniston massacre, the massacre at Myall Creek, the "Battle of Risdon" in Tasmania and many others, all were perpetrated against the Aborigines by the Europeans. There were years of conflict between Tasmanian Aborigines and white settlers which eventually resulted in the loss of the purebred aboriginal race from Tasmania - virtually genocide.

The Europeans also introduced foods and diseases, all of which were perfectly harmless to the white settlers, but lowered the life expectancy of the aboriginal people. Simple diseases like Measles and Influenza had devastating effects on Aborigines. Foods containing wheat and sugar resulted in heart disease and obesity among the indigenous Australians. Europeans introduced new flora and fauna which took over native habitat, leading to the extinction of many plants and animals on which the Aborigines relied.

When the aboriginal children were forcibly taken from their families, this directly led to a loss of culture, language, customs and traditions among the Aborigines. When the Europeans first came to Australia, there were around 250 different aboriginal languages in Australia. There is just a fraction of that number now. Many stories from the aboriginal Dreaming (creation legends) have disappeared forever.

Answer 6

The short answer:

• The indigenous Australians were forced from their traditional tribal lands and pushed further inland towards the more arid areas
• The indigenous Australians, who had known no diseases before white man, suffered badly from the effects of common "white man" illnesses, and often died as a result
• The indigenous Australians and Europeans did not understand each other's ways, and as a result, many Aborigines were killed by vengeful Europeans, whilst the indigenous peoples themselves would retaliate, setting up perpetual suspicion

Answer 7

One of the most important impacts that Australia has because of it once being a colony of Great Britain is the Australian system of laws and structures of government.