What was the First Fleet sent to do in Australia?

Answer 1

The convicts of the First Fleet were very quickly set to work clearing trees, tilling the soil and getting the first crops started. The convicts were very hard to motivate, being reluctant to work in the Australian heat and humidity, and with tools that constantly broke, but they were expected to work hard.

They were also set construction projects, as there were no roads, bridges or buildings. Some convicts were assigned as servants or tradespeople to the free settlers who also came.

Answer 2

After the First Fleet of convicts landed in Australia, the men and women were immediately set to work establishing buildings and roads, and completing other tasks necessary for the new colony. The men constructed the buildings, roads and bridges and quarried the stone for building as well as cutting down the trees. They established the first farms and crops, and tended the livestock. Some of the women were assigned as servants to the officers, some of them married marines or officers, while others were put to work sewing clothes and other items.

Answer 3

The First Fleet consisted almost entirely of convicts, officers and marines. Its purpose was to establish a settlement in New South Wales with the view to becoming a self-sufficient colony of the British Empire. As such, it would enable expansion of the British Empire and thus a British presence in the South Pacific.

Answer 4

They went there to re-supply.