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The Idea of Colonialism
The idea of colonialism is defined as "the establishment of a colony in one territory by a political power from another territory, and the subsequent maintenance, expansion, and exploitation of that colony." The British were well renowned for doing this in many places such as India, America, Canada and of course, Australia. -
Arrival of First Convict Ship in Sydney
The First Fleet arrives in Sydney Cove. -
New South Wales
For a long time, New South Wales was the main colony in Australia and the bulk of convicts were sent to the colony in Sydney Harbor. However, in the early days there were also colonies in Van Diemens Land, on Norfolk Island and eventually in Port Phillip. -
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Era of Convict Transport
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Slave Gangs
During almost the entirety of the colonies existence as a convict colony the convicts were subject to working in slave gangs of 5-10 men chained together and forced to perform monotonous tasks such as breaking rocks, un-knotting rope and digging trenches. -
Food in the Colonies
ONe of the immediate problems for Governor Phillip and his marines was how to provide for the colony. Convicts were set to work producing food for the colony, but many wagged work and couldn't be bothered with tending gardens or crops. -
Water
Water was another large problem for the colony, and another one that the convicts were set to fixing. They dug wells, built catchment systems and even, in Port Philip around 1804, tried to build water filtration systems to get rid of the salt in the sea water. -
Aboriginal Contact With Settlers
From the very first instance, convicts were presented with the very real idea that there were other locals in Australia. They had many heated engagements on the fringes of the colony, the Aboriginals desperately trying to force the white flood of the British Empire back and the British trying to impose upon the Aboriginals the ideas of the Bible and common decency. -
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Imperialism in the Colonies
British imperialism used Australia as a penal colony with an added peasant economy. In its early days the British imperialist idea was to develop Australia as a penal colony with this added semi-peasant economy to maintain the inhabitants. The idea of taking over countries to use as colonies to provide for the mother country. -
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Phillips Labour
During Governor Phillips' time in Sydney, men and women were put to work on jobs suited to their own skills, such as builders, carpenters, smiths, shoe makers and others. -
The Colony in 1778
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Second Fleet Arrives
The infamously murderous Second Fleet arrives in Sydney with 759 convicts on board 6 ships. It was contracted by a private company that didn't care about how the convicts were treated or fed. -
Third Fleet Arrives
The third fleet arrives in Sydney with 2,000 convicts on board 11 ships. -
Expanding the Colony
From 1810, convicts were seen as a source of labour to advance and develop the British colony. Convict labour was used to develop the public facilities of the colonies – roads, causeways, bridges, courthouses and hospitals. Convicts also worked for free settlers and small land holders. -
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Farm Labour
The discipline of rural labour was seen as the best chance of reform amongst the high ranking in convict times, and it became the biggest form of employment during the times of the highest influx of convicts. -
Convicts With Land
Many convicts were gifted with land after they had lved out their sentence. This occurred all over the colony and many ex-cons became exceedingly rich off it. -
The Colony in 1846
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The Colony in 1863
