Fatal Shore: The Epic of Australia's Founding
Why send
convicts to Australia
By Elizabeth Palmer
On the 4th of July 1776, America gained its
independence from Great Britain. This
was not only of major significance to America, but completely changed the
history of Australia.
The most significant effect, as far as
Australia is concerned, was that America was no longer prepared to accept
England’s convicts. Transportation had
been a good way to treat convicts in the past.
Not only did it solve the problem of where to keep them, but it removed
them from England.
When America stopped accepting convicts, the
prisons quickly filled. The large
number of convictable offences, and the high poverty rates, meant that many
people were convicted of crimes during this time. England did not have the space to keep them all.
A temporary measure was to put the convicts
into hulks, but even these soon filled up.
Somewhere else had to be found as a suitable place for transportation.
Another result of the War of Independence
was that England had to find somewhere to send those Americans who remained
loyal through the war. James Matra, who
was midshipman on the Endeavour when Cook discovered the east coast of
Australia, suggested that Botany Bay would be a good place for the
loyalists. As transporting the convicts
was a higher priority for the English government, he later amended his proposal
to include convicts.
Australia’s isolation made it a perfect
place for a convict settlement. It was
difficult to escape from and, indeed, difficult for convicts to return to
England even after their sentence was completed. But there were other reasons why Australia was thought a good
place to build a settlement.
Due to France’s involvement in the War of
Independence, England had to consider its defence strategies. If England were at war with France, it would
be useful to have a naval base in the area of Australia. Also, the flax and pines grown at Norfolk
Island were thought to be appropriate for the making of sails and ship masts,
which would be useful in a war.
So England decided to send its convicts to
Australia, based on accounts given by Banks and Matra, who saw the land 17
years previously. Those aboard the
Endeavour presumed that they were viewing Australia during its dry season,
when, in fact, it was the wet season.
The flax and pines that would have built sails and ship masts turned out
mostly unsuitable for that purpose. If
England had known all this, there is no doubt they would have chosen somewhere
else for their convicts and the history of Australia would have been completely
different.
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