ancient australia

Topic 1- Ancient Australia

Key Dates:

1770-1771 - James Cook lands at Botany Bay

1788- Captain Arthur Phillip arrives with the First Fleet

1810- First Nations people forced into missions

1835- Establishment of Melbourne

1838- Myall Creek massacre

1880-1900- Call for Federation

1901- Australia becomes a federation           

Key Terms:

Constitutional monarchy- a democracy that also has a monarch, the monarch’s role is mainly ceremonial, while true power lies with the government

Referendum- a vote by the electorate on a specific political question posed by the government

Free Settler-

First Nations-

Topics:

How did Aboriginal people live before British people arrived?

First nations people often new many languages for diplomatic and money reasons as well as sacred purpose and for law. They believed time was circular that moves across Past, present and future. Elders from different genders initiate, teach and regulate spiritual and legal matters. Council of elders discussed general community business. System of Aboriginal customary law is where spiritual and legal matters were handled by people of authority. The clan structures of the first nation's people have 3 elements to them moiety, totem and skin name.

Moiety: System that divides the community into 5 different groups. Totem: An inherited identity. Skin name: Relates to a persons' ancestral line. Hundreds of complex political structures accustomed to each Nation. The generalisation can oversimplify the complexity of these structures, due to large number of Nations. Traditions of time, history, and sacred stories are the oldest on Earth. Indigenous trade and technologies were more advanced than many people think. The first nations people developed trade networks that went over great distances and helped them exchange goods, knowledge and cultural practices. However, people had misconceived ideas about these tribes and their technologies as they weren't similar to how other people around the world lived their lives such as the British people. Ultimately, it is essential and imperative to recognize their advanced technologies such as ant jaws that helped them close skin wounds and the hunting boomerang to throw at a flock at birds to strike them down.

What does Terra Nullius mean and why was Aboriginal Australia called this by the British?

Terra Nulis means no persons land that doesn’t belong to anyone. From this point, terra nullius was thought to encompass not only territories where the land was uninhabited, but also land 'without settled inhabitants or settled law. - no borders or fences. However, People are connected to its lore, fauna and flora, creation spirits, elders and people, both past and present. The Aboriginal people own the land as it owns them. In Europe you own land and you buy it.  The british believe that That if an inhabited country be discovered and planted by English then they can take the land. In conquered and ceded lands the king can alter and change their laws.

Why did the British choose Australia specifically as a penal colony?

From the landing of the First Fleet in 1788, Britain suffered financial losses because of the war with america. Sending convicts to New South Wales was effective so they sent more people. Some farmers came to cities looking for jobs but they werent enough jobs for everyone. The First Fleet was significant because they carried the 850 convicts to australia and established the first colony. Convicts were sent to Australia because they were urbanisation in Britian and the prisons were overflowing. Australia was founded as a penal colony because it had resources and britian needed a place to keep their convicts. Australia was founded as a penal colony so a lot of convicts moved to Australia. They used to send the convicts to america but couldn’t anymore due to the american revolution so they sent them to NSW. They would help them build a new colony. Because of overcrowding  and urbanisation they had to put people in prision and there was a prision boat which went to australia as british prisons were overflowing.

What were the frontier wars and how did it impact the indigenous people?

Governor Philip was not violent at all towards the First Nations people at first and he specifically ordered his men to treat the locals well and he even punished colonists who didn’t take those orders. The aboriginals responding to colonizers taking resouces and stealing lands with violence and soldiers began to retaliate with force raiding lands and killing warriors.  The vicious cycle of violence is when Colonists would shoot people on the spot, poison or torture them. Colonists would retaliate against any black man they saw. The aboriginal idea of playback is when they generally carried out by a clever man or a Carradhy. They would fight back against the loss of land and traditional food supplies. The skirmishes lasted from 1788 until the 1930s. The frontier wars werent just a battle between two sides of ared warriors it was often a random group of First Nations people were punished if colonists couldn’t find who they were looking for. Myall Creek Massacre was unusual because  colonists were punished for their crimes- 7 stockmen were hanged for murdering an innocent child. It was hard to determine a precise number of deaths from the massacres because we don’t know how many aboriginals died and there were no records kept, they were skirmishes and no wars. Roughly 2000-5000 colonists died and there were too many aboriginals that died.

What was the Batman Treaty and why was it declared invalid?

Batman was a farmer and a bounty hunter. He wanted to negotiate with First Nations Peoples to obtain more farmable land for Britain. Batman wanted more farmable land for Britian from the First Nations people. The treaty gave the British colony 600,000 acres of land while the treaty gave the Kulin nation 20 blankets, 12 tomahawks, 10 looking glasses, 30 knives, 12 scissors, 50 handkerchiefs, 12 shirts, 4 jackets, 4 suits and 50 pounds of flour. The problems with the treaty were it did not include representatives of people from Djilong, it did not have the approval of the British Crown, parliament or governor and it did not align with Terra Nullius. The batman treaty was unusual for its time as they acknowledged that the Aboriginal people owned the land and there was no terra nullius. Batman's treaty helped the First Nations people be recognized then and today. This was done as in the treaty it didn’t align with the British definition of Australia which is "the declaration of the land as terra nullius" which shows that the British recognized the land as not being no persons land anymore. It also demonstrates how the treaty helped their desires today of being recognized for being the First Nation in Australia. Ultimately, the Batman Treaty helped the wants of the Aboriginal people.

Why did the Gold Rush occur and what were its effects on Victoria? Why did the Gold Rush lead to a rise in racism?

In 1851 gold is found in NSW as well as Ballarat, Warrandyte and Clunes in Victoria so People hear about the gold rush and the Victorian gold rush begins. Every month, thousands of people arrived in Vic and the population grew to enormous amounts. Mining desecrated Aboriginal sacred sites, hunting grounds and food sources were lost which Increased contact with Europeans brought violence, alcoholism and disease. An exodus of workers from farms to the goldfields meant a worker shortage on farms so They set a gold mining license fee of 30 shillings a month and the police checked it. The miners' work was wet and dirty so they would hide their licences to protect them so many diggers were fines for not being able to produce their license on the spot. Some police "traps" were ex-convicts which Made them ideal for fending off bushrangers while gold was transported. Mining work was tough, competitive and few guarantees of success and They couldn’t pay for the license fee so they would turn up without one- they stole and faked licences. To maximise efficiency, big mining companies used steam powered drilling and crushing machines so Many single or small- operation miners were put out of work. The percentage of the total colonial population of Chinese born immigrants were 3.3%. The white settlers objected to the chinese being on the goldfields as the chinese  were depicted as horrible people and were harassed- as they had foreign religions, customs. In 1855 the Chinese Imiigration Act limited the amount of Chinese let into Victoria. Life became more difficult for Chinese miners after 1855 as They were harassed by officials and miners, they were forced to pay residency licence as well as standard gold licence, acts of violence was common. At Buckland River there was eviction beatings and death of Chinese miners. As the gold rush ended the racism expanded and there was the white Australian policy and racist sentiments continues. From 1860 as Hindu and Muslim people connected towns with camel train. They were segregated in fenced areas called Ghantowns. There was no racial mixing. There was a Immigration Restriction Act in 1901 called the White Australia policy.

What was the Eureka Rebellion and why is it considered an important event for Australian democracy?

The Eureka Rebellion is when the miners went against the government because of the amount of taxes they had to pay during the gold rush. The two different perspectives on Eureka is that the Australian tax avoidance to dig up gold without paying for it is the British perspective and the miner perspective was about democracy. At this time only men who owned significant land were allowed to vote at this time. One of the key Chartist Reforms were voting rights for all men. The southern cross was raised for the first time at Bakery Hill, 29th November 1854. The miners chose Peter Lalour and there were 300 soldier and police that stormed the Stockade. There were 150 rebels. The Battle of the Eureka Stockade lasted only 15 minutes; 13 rebels didn’t go to jail for treason they were acquitted.  The Eureka Rebellion had two political reform which were voting rights and suffrage movement for women. The miner was increasingly upset because James Surly who was a suspicious miner was killed, and the hotel was burnt down which inflamed the situation at Ballarat on 6 October 1854. The Eureka Stockade led to recognition to the problem of the miners.

What were some reasons for and against Australia becoming a Federation?

For- There was Economic benefit as removing inner colonies it will unit Australia and transport will become standardized. There was united immigration and this policy would strengthen all borders against non-white foreigners. There was national defence and all the colonies have their own armies when Australia is united they can be stronger against other nations. There was national identity now with all the six colonies separated people see Australia as a divided nation, if we get Federation we will become united and become one.

Against- Each colony has shaped their own identity, making the country all fit all wound bedentitional. The bigger colonies need to thrive and work with themselves. If there will be federation there will be domination between smaller states.There will be power houses, taking control of the smaller states like Tasmania. It wouldn’t be democracy it would be control. There will also be limits on importation

The people of Australia took this idea from the British and American systems which are the two most powerful countries in the world which would mean that the system obviously works.

If there were to be a federation, then it would unite most people of Australia which is very important for a country to thrive. Federation would help solve many problems. For example, every colony used a different track gauge for its railways so that trains could not travel from one colony to another. Furthermore, passengers had to get out of the trains at the border. Federation would help solve these problems by making regular day activities a lot more convenient.

What was the While Australia Policy? How long did it last? Why was it abolished?

Some reasons why the White Australia Policy was made was So they could control who lived in Australia and to make Australia a white mans paradise. The dictation test was a test where an officer could choose any European language and ask the person to translate it to English. The dictation test was biased and unfair as If you passed the officer could declare a reset in another language and In 1909  it was declared that no one would pass it. In 1958 the dictation test was abolished. More than 1/4 of Australians were born overseas and they were over 40,000 Chinese Immigrants that flocked to Australia to partake in the goldrush. There was tension between the Chinese diggers as there was competition. Australia restricted Chinese immigration by imposing a tax on Chinese immigrants and limiting the amount that arrive in Victoria. The White Australia policy was brought in after federation because Australia wanted to control how many Chinese and Pacific islanders people came into the country. Australia needed to encourage immigration during the World Wars because the population was shrinking and it was either populate or perish. There was a perish campaign because without immigrants coming to Australia and increasing the population, the Australian nation would not survive. Australia started to consider to end the policy as the sentiment towards immigrants changed. Australia's relationship with Asian countries was changing as we became reliant on them. Non- European immigrants were allowed to settle in Australia in 2947. The discrimination on racial bounds for immigration ended in Australia in 1975.

Who were the stolen generations and what was the significance of Kevin Rudd’s sorry speech?

They were when Australian governments or churches forcibly took children from families. This happened because they wanted to assimilate them into whiteness. The people that were appointed to oversee the separation of children from their families were Agencies and Churches in Australia. A board oversaw this. There were families in outback Australia and mixed families that had their children removed. Aboriginals names were changed, they couldn’t speak their native language, they couldn't practise their culture and couldn’t see their parents. Transgeneration truma is a pain that impacts multiple generations. (Israel also had a stolen generation)

Kevin Rudd is the former prime minister of Australia. Aboriginal people were very sad and crying. They were grateful to finally get an apology for their trauma when watching the speech. In the 1900s almost 50,000 children were taken from their families. The children were moved to orphanages, foster families or missions. The children weren't usually allowed to keep their names and language. The removals stopped in 1969. The name of the report that had investigated the Stolen Generations was the bringing them home report.The report and the sorry speech didn’t make everythign better for Aboriginal people because families are still dealing with loss, people havent found their families and they are still dealing with the trauma of it all.