PRESENTATION TOPIC

“Australia up to 1901”

Wayne Muller

Griffith University

26th June 2008

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