Role and Impact of Convicts in Australian History - Essay Example

Name of the student: Course name: Subject: Introduction Convicts were tradesmen and farmers who had committed serious offences and since their jail terms were up to seven years, they were transported to Australia (Mevin, 2003). In 1776, when there was an outbreak of American war of Independence, British stopped sending the convicts to the colonies but instead were restrained in moored prison ships. In these ships there was overcrowding hence in 1786, the British established a penal colony in Botany Bay, Australia. Convicts were mostly from poor backgrounds and the illiterate from London and rural population of Ireland. These people were sent to Australia during the period between 1788 and 1868.Here the convicts could endure exile and also loss of liberty (Francis, 2002). Good behavior portrayed by convicts meant a certificate of freedom, conditional pardon or an absolute pardon. In accordance to the law, the convicts who were sentenced to death and were sent as exiles as they were considered legally dead since they processed no rights until transportation ran its course. On reaching Australia, what happened to them depended on one’s skills, education or some luck. This essay will discuss the role and impacts these convicts had on Australian History. Roles and impacts of Convicts in Australia Convicts played a very great role in building and shaping Australia socially, economically and politically. The convicts from England were very instrumental to the revolution of Australia despite them being criminals. They also added to the population of Australians. Below are areas of revolution brought by convicts. Religion The indigenous people of Australia performed the religious ceremonies of the animist religion of dreamtime. With the coming of the new fleet of convicts, Christianity came in. A tenth of the first fleet of convicts were Catholics since most of them were descendants of Irish while the predominant church was the Church of England (VerAlan 145). Catholic Convicts were not allowed to practice their faith hence compelled to attend Church of England as part of their punishment. Seventh Day Adventist came in Australia in 1880 and had a very big impact since they started a chain of hospitals and schools which led to more growth of Christianity (James 3-5). In the 70’s largest population was made up by Catholics and Church of England and some people were begging to drop hence there was uniting of Presbyterian, Methodist and Congregational churches forming the uniting church which was very effective in Australia. In 1990 Pentecostal church grew rapidly since it targeted the young Audiences and today remains the largest church. Education Initially, education was informal and was taught at home but with the incitement of the Prime Minister Duke Wellington who was a British and the patronage of the King William 4, The Kings School, Parramatta was founded in 1831 in order to set up a grammar school in the colony. In 1833, there were approximately 10 catholic schools in which one in every five of Australian students attend today (Francis 82). John Bede, the first catholic bishop sent a group of nuns to the colony and religious sisters of charity to establish a pastoral care to convict women and work in schools as well as in hospitals. In 1848, Jesuits were the first religious priests to enter and establish houses in South Australia, Queensland and the Northern territory where they also set up schools (Francis 82). Entertainment The first Australian literature was the accounts of the settlement of Sydney by WatkinTench who was a captain of the marines on the first fleet in 1788. In 1819, William Wentworth who was a poet, an explorer, a journalist and a politician published his first book. In this book, he advocated for an elected assembly for New South Wales, trial by jury and settlement of Australia by free emigrants as opposed to convicts (Robert 76). The first novel to be printed and published in Australia was “The Guardian” in 1838 by Anna Maria Bunn .The first theatre in Australia came with the First fleet (Robert 76). It was known as The Recruiting Officer by George Farquhar which was performed in 1789 by convicts. The second theatre was “Our Country’s Good” by Timberlake Wertenwaker. The participants were prisoners who were watched by guards who obtained pleasure by inflicting pain on others and an actress was under threat of death penalty (Robert 78). The oldest theatre was the Theatre Royal, Hobart which was opened in1837 in Australia. In 1839, Melbourne Athenaeum was founded which was used as a school of arts, a dance hall and a library. It was later converted to be Australia’s first cinema screening. The world’s first feature film was the story of the Kelly Gang, in 1906. The Queens’s theatre, which opened in 1841 with Shakespeare, is today the oldest theatre on mainland (Robert 76). Growth of Free State Traditionally, Australian’s was administration was led by councils of elders. In 1788, an autocratic European style of government which was run by appointed governors was established. The second fleet in 1790 brought two men D’Arcy Went Worth and John Macarthur who played great roles in Australia. D’ Arcy Went Worth’s son William Charles was an explorer, invented the first Australian newspaper and also led a movement to do away with convict transportation and set up a representative government. John Macarthur, Scottish officer was among the founders of the wool industry which was the beginning for Australia’s future prosperity (Francis 83). From 1815, under Lanchlan Macquarie governorship, the colony grew very fast as the free settlers came and opened new lands for farming. From late 1820s settlement was only limited to locations known as Nineteen Counties (Francis 83). Settlers who occupied land without authority were called squatters which were the basis of land owning class. Convicts transportation to Sydney ended due to opposition of the class of laboring and Artisans. New South Wales Legislative council was the oldest body appointed to advice the governor in 1825. City Council of Adelaide and City Council of Sydney were established in 1840. Men with possessions of about 1000pounds were able to contest for elections (Francis 83-90). The people who owned land were allowed up to four votes in the election. The first parliamentary election for the New South Wales Legislative council was conducted in 1843. In the 1850s the Act of Australian colonies government granted representative constitutions to South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania. These colonies wrote a constitution which brought about democratically progressive parliament (Tony 143). Trade and Economy The official medium of exchange of the colonies was British pound. An unofficial medium of exchange called rum was also used readily and was also acceptable. Colonies relied on imports from England. There existed a partnership between Berry and Wollstonecraft that made enormous gains through land gifts from the government, labor from convict and also they exported cedar originating from Australia to England. In this period Australian businessmen prospered (Robert 123). Aboriginal Resistance The reactions of Aboriginals to the arrival of British colonies were resistance mainly because of competition of resources to include the land .There were European outbreaks of many diseases to include measles, smallpox, influenza which spread from one camp to another (Thomas 142). Aboriginal’s resistance was greeted with great violence by colonizers, which led to brutal slaughter of many men, women, and children that led to the death of many aboriginals. British Colony Establishment After American Revolutionary War in 1775-1783, British lost its American Colonies. Great Britain needed an alternative British Colony (John 187). Colonization of Australia was brought about by the obligation of the British to address the situation of overpopulation by the prisoners. The Europeans settlement in Australia began with allocation of land to English convicts though they did not have ownership. They were guarded by a group of the royal marines. On reaching with the first fleet in 1787,under the leadership of captain Arthur Phillip, they reached the Botany Bay in 1788 but they found out that it was a poor choice hence they left eight days later to Port Jackson to establish a settlement (Francis 83). Phillip started his permanent settlement in January 26, which became The Australian Day. The settlement grew to t be called Sydney, the biggest city with one of the world’s best natural harbors (James 3-5). Conclusion Convicts who came to Australia between 1786 to 19th century were prisoners from England who after the war were so crowded in the ships and hence the government transported these people to Botany Bay in Australia. Here in Australia they worked with prior skills. Those who were educated they did easier jobs than those that were illiterate. Women who got married were freed from the punishment. Convicts in Australia were first seen as outcasts with alienation from other people in Australia (John 187). In spite people’s feeling of the convicts as criminals, with them we see lots of revolution and also they brought in positive changes within the people of Australia to include education whereby the traditional education was principally informal but with the British Prime Minister there was Establishment of first grammar school hence formal education (Deborah 106). As convicts were transported to Australia, the British found a leeway whereby they settled permanently and in the process colonize the Australia importing goods. Trade in Australia prospered since they stated importing goods from England. References Brian, Galligan and Winsome Roberts. Australian Citizenship. Melbourne: Melbourne Univ. Publishing, 2004, Print. Deborah, Oxley. Convicts Maids: The Forced Migration of Women to Australia. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996, Print. James, Jupp. The Australian People: An Encyclopedia of the Nation, Its People and Their Origins. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001, Print. Viewed from (http://books.google.co.ke/books?id=y7a4rppKbJMC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Ireland%E2%80%99s+New+Worlds:+Immigrants,+Politics,+and+Society+in+the+United+%09States+and+Australia,+1815-1922&hl=en&sa=X&ei=tsOST5nNNuqa1AXphun-AQ&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=Ireland%E2%80%99s%20New%20Worlds%3A%20Immigrants%2C%20Politics%2C%20and%20Society%20in%20the%20United%20%09States%20and%20Australia%2C%201815-1922&f=false) John, Gascoigne. Science in the Service of Empire: Joseph Banks, the British State and the Uses of Science in the Age of Revolution, Melbourne: Cambridge University Press, 1998, Print. Malcolm, Campbell. Ireland’s New Worlds: Immigrants, Politics, and Society in the United States and Australia, 1815-1922. Wisconsin: Univ. of Wisconsin Press, 2007, Print. Peter, Berresford, E. Eyewitness to Irish History. New York: John Wiley and Sons, 2007, Print. Robert, Jordan, The convict Theatres of Australia, 1788-1840. Indiana: Currency House, 2002, Print. Thomas, Keneally. A Commonwealth of Thieves: The impossible Birth of Australia, Sydney: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 2007. Tony, Moore. Death or Liberty: Rebels and Radicals Transported to Australia 1788-1868. Sydney: Pier, 2010, Print. VerAlan, Frost. “A Fit of Absence of Mind? The decision to colonize Botany Bay, 1779-1786”, Botany Bay Mirages: Illusions of Australia’s Convict Beginnings, Melbourne University Press, 1994, Print. Read More