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Presentation Structure
• (1) The Indigenous millennia (separate lecture)
• (2) The so called European “voyages of discovery”
• (3) The USA as the catalyst for white settlement/ “invasion” of Australia
• (4) Australia’s convict origins and heritage
• (5) White occupance and “the frontier”
• (6) Gold: “The rush to be rich”
• (7) The rural experience and the formation of “Australian Values”
• (8) The colonial experience
• (9) The 1890s: Towards Federation
The so called European “voyages of discovery”
• The Portuguese, the Dutch, the French and the British
• Specific voyages- Dirk Hartog, William Dampier, Captain James Cook, etc
• Conflicting opinions of the nature of the great southern land (Terra Australis) and its original inhabitants
• Increasing competition between the French and the British
The USA as the catalyst for white settlement/ “invasion” of Australia
• Implications of the American War of Independence
• The English penal system
• The First Fleet
• Beginnings of settlement- Sydney Cove 26th January 1788
Australia’s convict origins and heritage
• Debate over the nature of the convicts: Scum of the earth, petty criminals, Irish convicts, gender imbalance, etc
• Composition of original society: Governor, military and convicts
• Arrival of free settlers- emergence of a class based society- exclusionists, emancipists and convicts
• Heritage of ‘anti-authoritarianism”, contempt for police- Ned Kelly as “folk hero”
• Convict ancestors- family shame-> trendy background
White occupance and “the frontier”
• Expansion from Sydney town- historical debates
• The role of the “explorers”• Land grants and “squatters”• The “pioneer” legend• Waves of occupance cf F J Turner’s American
“frontier thesis”• Pushing the frontier too far- environmental
consequences
Gold: “The rush to be rich”
• Edward Hargraves- The California connection- 1851
• Life on the gold fields• The Chinese presence- seeds of racism• Winners and losers• Enhanced transport “Cobb and Co”• Economic consequences of the gold
discoveries
The rural experience and the formation of “Australian Values”
• The significance of the nineteenth century “bush” experience
• The itinerant bush workers- swagmen, sundowners and shearers- “Waltzing Matilda”- the “Nomad Tribe”
• The masculinist experience- “mateship”– Egalitarianism– Anti-authoritarianism– Sexism– Male bonding
The colonial experience
• Convict colonies and “free settlements”• Dates of settlement/ proclamation/ convicts *
– NSW 1788 *
– Tasmania 1803 *
– Victoria 1803/ 1850 *
– South Australia 1836
– Western Australia 1829 *
– Queensland 1824/ 1859 *
The colonial experience (continued)
• Implications of colonial settlement– Separate economic and social development– The ‘tragedy of the rail systems”– The challenge of Federation– State based social attributes: stereotypes,
jokes, sporting rivalry, etc– State and federal government rivalries and
conflicts
The 1890s: Towards Federation
• Drought, flood, plague, bank collapses and economic depression following the boom of the1880s
• Union action-> strikes- the “great shearers’ strike”- failure- > formation of the Labor Party
• Factors driving federation:– Need for defence force– Need for immigration policies- fear of foreign
workers- coloured and Chinese– Need for customs and excise policies– Management of the Murray River, etc
The 1890s: Towards Federation (continued)
• Towards Federation:– October 1889 Henry Parkes “Tenterfield Speech”– February 1890- first conference re federation – First Federal Convention -1891- draft constitution-
subsequently rejected by some colonies– 1893- Corowa conferences of various business
associations etc in favour of federation for economic reasons
– 1897-1898 various conventions of elected delegates from each of the colonies- general agreement on concept but difficulties seen as enormous
The 1890s: Towards Federation (continued)
• Sir Samuel Griffith- drafts the new constitution• June 1898- referendum- failed- NSW main blocker• January-February 1899- further meetings to amend the
constitution including various compromises• 1899 second series of referenda in each colony-
eventually supported in all colonies • July-September 1900- approval of the proposed
federation by the British Government and Queen Victoria
• 1st January 1901- Federation of the Commonwealth of Australia established- ceremonies and celebrations