History Of Australia Essay

On January 1, 1901, the people of Australia had a date with destiny. They unploughed it, despite alone odds. The struggle to free ourselves from the several(prenominal)time(prenominal), the struggle to unite for a better future is as natural to humankind as breathing. both are vital, if life must go on. For Australians too, the struggle that led to the predominate of destiny was not an easy one. The path that led to the federation of colonies was peppered with obstacles. exactly it is a proven fact that all you need to succeed is a single idea, a few good men or women and dozens of hard work. This essay will open a window to the past and trace the road to federation and the birth of a nation. To begin at the beginning, the exodus from Africa began around 60,000 years ago, and following the gray coastline of Asia, the scratch premature travelers crossed some 250 kilometers 155 miles of sea, and colonized Australia by around 50,000 years ago.The Aborigines of Australia, are the descendants of the outset wave of migration out of Africa. 1 The story whitethorn have begun there but there is a great pass on to follow. European nations were interested in discovering the Great South Land. The first preserve European contact with Australia was in March 1606, when Dutch explorer Willem Janszoon (c. 1570 1630) charted the westward coast of Cape York Peninsula, Queens disembark. Over the next two centuries, European explorers and clientelers proceed to chart the coastline of Australia, then known as untried Holland.In 1688, William Dampier became the first British explorer to land on the Australian coast. It was not until 1770 that some other Englishman, Captain James Cook, aboard the Endeavour, extended a scientific pilot to the South Pacific in order to further chart the eastern coast of Australia and claim it for the British top side. 2 report OF AUSTRALIA Page 2Australia was invaded by a naval power, its first colonial culture of self-assuranc e was maritime, whaling and sealing were the colonys earliest productive industries, and it took settlers a canton of a century to cross the first land barrier, the Blue Mountains that hemmed in Sydney. Colonial settlements hugged the coast and were connected to one another by the marine rather than the land, like islands in an archipelago. 3The proposals for the use of the continent had a history nigh as long, though by no substance so distinguished as that of its discovery. Some saw it as a land of the Holy Spirit some saw it as a land fit only for the refuse of society . 4 quest the lost war (American War of Independence), Britain moved to reorganize its remaining foreign empire and decided to settle Australia with convicts. Convicts provided an ideal source of human majuscule for such(prenominal) ventures, and all European colonizing nations used convicts overseas.The penal establishment for incorrigibles at Macquarie Harbour on the west coast of Tasmania is famous. The n ame Harbour is associated only if with remembrance of inexpressible depravity, degradation and woe. The convicts called this the Hells Gate. 5 By the 1880s, New South Wales had come a long focal diaphragm forth from its beginnings as a convict settlement and was ruled by a British-appointed Governor supported by military force.Transportation of convicts had ended xl years before a system of elected, responsible establishment had true where virtually all adult males had the right to a secret vote a situation which made the colony one of the most republican places on earth. Pastoral development, then the gold rushes had led to great frugal development working people were better off here than almost anywhere else at that time the colonies were called a working mans paradise.6 HISTORY OF AUSTRALIA Page 3 The other quin Australian colonies were developing in similar ways, with systems of government modelled originally on NSW the mother colony. there had been umteen prop osals calling for the bringing in concert of the separate Australian colonies into a single nation.The first intercolonial conference met in Melbourne in 1863 to discuss uniform customs, trade and tariff duties. But all(prenominal) continued to go their separate ways on these issues. Some colonies chose to cherish their industries with tariffs, others preferred free trade. There were customs posts on colonial borders and duties had to be paid on goods imported from one colony to another. As well, the mingled colonies built their railways with different gauges, so that trains could not cross borders.These problems kept the colonies divided. disdain the problems there were upstanding reasons supporting some form of federation. The colonies were mainly Anglo-Celtic in culture, institutions and outlook there was little difference between them. Major-General Edwards 1888 defence declare showed that adequate defence of the continent would be unthinkable without combining the diffe rent colonies forces. There was much concern about the activities of other nations in the Pacific, specially Germany which had colonised New Guinea.Communications issues the railway gauge problem, the new galvanic telegraphs spanning the continent, postal services, currency were forcing the colonies to come to some common agreements. The trade and customs issues caused inconvenience and expense to trade and commerce. Most of the colonies were also concerned about immigration, particularly of non-Europeans, and could see the advantages of a common policy. Federation offered a way of solving these problems. 7HISTORY OF AUSTRALIA Page 4 But the Australian colonies had always been individualists. Their origins were diverse, their capitals were widely separated from one another, and the outlook of their people, we may as well acknowledge it at once, was parochial in the extreme. Attempts to introduce topical anaesthetic government bodies were long resisted.Local government could ha ve been a first step towards union or federation, but the wish to federate grew slowly. As early as 1847, Earl Grey, at that time Secretary of State for the Colonies, suggested federation. To his candid gaze it must have seemed foolish and wasteful that six colonies, all following the same course of development, all with similar interests, should not harmonize for the better regulation of mutual interests. From the Australian point of view it would slopped greater efficiency and economy.8 Between 1823 and 1842 the British crown colony, the New South Wales was administered by the Governor in combination with a legislative Council which met behind closed doors and whose proceedings were not reported by the press, a pattern similar to the other six colonies. The New South Wales legislative Council is often referred to as the squatters council, reflecting the influence that squatters, as the most significant wealthiness producers and land- bewilderers, had on the political process.9 The squatters were thus in a strong position which they were unlikely to surrender. They had borne the burden and heat of the day and thought of the land as their own and their childrens by right of pioneering. As it was, the filtrate political atmosphere made compromise more difficult each(prenominal) year as the clamour to unlock the land grew and the squatters became intransigent.As a result the land Acts of the early sixties were declarations of war for the possession of the Crown lands the reformers never doubting that the victory would go to the people. 10 HISTORY OF AUSTRALIA Page 5 The post-1850s in New South Wales marked a shift in political power from country to town.The extension of vote and other democratic reforms weakened the political hegemony exercised by squatters. However, during the same period, their world(a) economic prosperity increased as a result of increases in prices for wool, the weight of fleeces and a reduction in the use of farm labour. The absen ce seizure of significant wealth independent of agriculture ensured pastoralists interests prevailed despite reform of electoral and legislative processes. As the number of free settlers increased they, too, became politically active.By the beginning of the 1880s the factions that had previously characterised the New South Wales Legislative accumulation were crumbling. A worsening economic crisis catalysed social tensions that favourable economic conditions had for the most part obscured. As the environment within which elementary producers operated increased in complexness due to technological innovation, changes in marketing arrangements, government legislation and economic conditions producers started to experiment with diverse forms of organisation.The period between 1875 and 1900 was a turning point in the political organisation of primary producers. It was through local groups that primary producers came to be aware of transport, trading, banking and tariff issues. Importa ntly, they became aware that most primary producers were invariable similar experiences and perceived similar threats. This was instrumental in forming a joint identity which addressed the absence of tradition and the weakness of shared value that were characteristic of earlier colonial times.The most commonly cited accelerator pedal for the political organisation of farmers was the shearers strikes of the 1890s. 11 HISTORY OF AUSTRALIA Page 6 alteration went on long after 1880. The next twenty years brought many new experiments, some reckless and ill-considered, others designed to give more bear on opportunity.The new changes aimed at correcting old mistakes and strengthening the promise of a southern utopia but in spite of common aims and closer links, the colonies still wanted their separate policies. The penalties of rivalry only became irksome when isolation within and from away seemed to threaten the continents welfare. Reluctantly the colonies agreed to yield some of their jealously guarded rights. In this great readjustment the indissoluble federal Commonwealth came into being, more through necessity than in faith.12 There were more reasons why the federation became a necessity. While the fundamental successes of the trade union movement in the colonies in gaining a reasonable bill of living for its members should be acknowledged, they were limited. At best, male workers in full-time organized jobs were able to live on their wages. It must be stressed that a decent living wage was not achieved for casual workers, for non-union workers in long-lived part-time jobs or for women.Coghlans reports showed that before the 1890s there had been seasonal and local fluctuations in the availability of work (and consequently income), some on quite a large scale. Therefore the workers paradise did not hold good at times. For example in 1866 the Mayor of Sydney declared that the pauperisation was so great that he thought of relieving people with flour, meat, etc. As the year went on the distress increased . . . the lamentable spectacle might be seen everywhere of able-bodied men tramping about the country in a vain search for work.13 HISTORY OF AUSTRALIA Page 7 The 1883 boorish drought across Eastern Australia led to a general glowering of wages and to unemployment. Employment was so scarce that in April 1884 meetings of the unemployed were held in Sydney every day. Between 1885 and 1887 there were sufficient numbers of unemployed for the government regularly to provide relief work, including road-making and scrub-cutting.Sydney seemed to suffer particularly, in that people displaced in other parts of the colony would join the ranks of the unemployed in the city. such people included the miners from the Illawarra who had fought a hopeless battle throughout 1886 against decrease employment and reduced wages. In 1887 there was so much unemployment that it was impossible to maintain even the nominal rates of wages of many trade s, such as tinsmiths, brick makers, coachbuilders, brass and copper workers. 14