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Captain Cook Landed in Botany Bay
Captain James Cook, the English navigator, landed on the East Coast of Australia in April 1770 on the HMS Endeavour. Due to the vast and unusual flowers and plants he renamed the bay they landed in 'Botany Bay'. He sailed the whole of the coast and reported to the British government that he thought it would make a good place for a settlement. Britain did not recognise the country as being inhabited as the natives did not manage the land, and were, therefore, "uncivilized". -
USA Won independence
Before the USA were an independent nation the English would send their convicts over there to empty their overcrowded prisons. When the USA were independent they decided that they didn't want England's convicts and rejected any more from coming. -
The First fleet
Between 1788 and 1850 the English sent over 162,000 convicts to Australia in 806 ships. The first eleven of these ships are today known as the First Fleet. The English needed somewhere to send their convicts now that the USA rejected them and Australia seemed like the perfect place. -
Free settlers
Soon after all the convicts had been sent to Australia the English started sending over free settlers to Australia. They used the rich fertile and what they thought 'free' land to their advantage. -
Massacres
The white settlers came in large groups and the native Australians were scared of them because they were so different looking, with their white skin and shaved faces. They would often have arguements with them for taking their sacred land and resources. This often ended in massacres with the English almost always winning due to their modern weapons. -
Waves of migration
In the first few decades of the 1800's many different waves of migration came to Australia. Many Germans and Italians came to escape persecution. Also there were more free settlers migrating over in order to find a new life for their family. -
GOLD
gold Gold was first discovered in Bathurst, New South Wales in 1851 and this was the beginning of a new era in Australia 's history. Later that same year, gold was also discovered in Victoria at Bendigo and Ballarat. The discovery of gold brought a rush of immigrants to Australia in the search for their fortune. -
Population Booming
Due to the gold rush, the population on towns such as Ballarat and Melbourne went off the scale. This caused many new buildings and jobs to be created, providing employment for people who were unsuccessful finding gold. -
Irish Famine
migrationThe Irish Potato Famine was a devistating event in history. It happened when their main food source, the potato, was hit by the blight, making them uneatable. Many people migrated to various different countries including the USA, Canada, New Zealand and Australia. -
Depression
After the gold rush there was a great boom in the economy of Australia but it soon lead to a decade long depression. It created high unemployment, and ruined many businesses, and the employers responded by driving down wages. -
Federation
Federation was when all the states of Australia joined to be one nation. Before federation there were 6 British colonies in Australia. In the 1890's the idea of federation became very popular, people began to realise that for matters like defence, controlling immigration and economy, a nation would be stronger than individual colonies. -
World War 1
The First World War began in 1914. Although Australia was a nation it was still a part of the British Empire and they had a strong alliance with each other. Australia sent 324,000 people overseas and lost 61,720 in battle. Many others were wounded or seriously injured. Some of Australias involvement in the war included fighting in Gallipoli against Turkey and also defending on the Western Front in France.
