The Arrival of Europeans to Australia

• Settlement- The colonization of a region
• Invasion- The act of invading or process of being invaded

In this essay I will answer and give reason to the question “was European arrival to Australia a white invasion or a white settlement?” I think that the arrival of Europeans to Australia was a white settlement gone wrong. Here is my reason for this answer.

The settlement of white man in Australia began in 1779 when Sir Joseph Banks gave his report on Botany Bay and the land in Botany Bay. In his report he said that Botany Bay was the most suitable place and that the natives would provide little opposition which would allow the convicts to defend themselves. He also said in his report that the bay would be perfect for whaling ships.

Although Sir Joseph Banks had reported that Australia was suitable for settlement, it wasn’t until 1788 that permanent settlement began. The Aboriginals were not happy with what the settlers were doing. They didn’t like how they were being treated and how the land was just taken away from them. As a result Aboriginals attacked some of the white settlers and the white settlers attacked back.

In other places the white settlers and the Aboriginals co-operated. They would work together and live together. Some Aboriginals became happy members of society. They were given work and a house to live in.

As more and more Europeans came to Australia to settle, the settlers would have to venture inland for more room. As they did this they took Aboriginal land. Aboriginals were not happy with and attacked the settlers. Aboriginals were forced to retreat and surrender there land or they were killed. When the Europeans settled on land close to an aboriginal tribe, the Aboriginals would steal equipment, kill settlers and steal or kill valuable animals.

The Europeans that settled in Australia were told to treat the natives with respect. Because most settlers were convicts, they disobeyed this rule. This concluded with many Aborigines killed in massacres. If some settlers hadn’t done this the two races could have lived happily together. The Aborigines could have taught the Europeans cures to diseases and the Europeans could have brought the Aborigines technology.

The Aboriginals would most likely have a different opinion to the question “was the arrival of white people in Australia a white invasion or a white settlement.” They would think that it was a white invasion and that it was not a white settlement. The Aboriginals were over run by the white man. Aboriginals had nearly all there land taken away from them and very many of them were killed in a massacre.

By the end of the nineteenth century the Europeans had settled on most of the livable land in Australia. Also, the Aboriginal population in Australia had dramatically decreased. By 1901 there was below 10000 Aborigines in New South Wales, below 1000 Aborigines in Victoria, below 30000 thousand in Queensland, below 5000 in Western Australia, below 25000 in Northern Territory and there was less then 100 in Tasmania. These numbers have decrease from numbers of more than 100000 Aborigines as settlers took over Australia.

The arrival of Europeans in Australia was a settlement that went horrible wrong. From an Aboriginal point of view it was an European invasion and not a European settlement.