On January 18th, 1788, the British arrived in Australia after a painful 252 days on the water. There were several reasons why the first …show more content…
The diseases brought by the First Fleet, such as tuberculosis, influenza, measles, and smallpox, had a severe impact on the local population. Despite their extensive knowledge of bush medicine, the Aboriginal people were unable to treat these introduced diseases, leading to a significant loss of life. The British settlers also cleared land for their towns and farms, fenced off areas, and restricted access to resources, causing Indigenous communities to struggle to survive. This resulted in starvation and malnourishment for many, leading to further loss of life. The loss of land also had a profound effect on the Aboriginal people's language, culture, and identity, as the settlers forced their beliefs and culture upon them, causing them to move away from their own traditions. The frontier wars, which spanned from 1788 to 1934, resulted in the deaths of over 8,400 people, with the majority being Indigenous individuals. When the White Australia policy was introduced on December 23rd, 1901, the indigenous people were affected in their everyday life, from the taking of children and family members to not being able to vote. ‘Blackbirding’ which is the practice where people from the Pacific Islands were kidnapped or fraudulently recruited by sailors and taken back to the sugar farms in Queensland where they worked in conditions that were very similar to those of slavery. Some people, such as workers and unions, were adamantly opposed to this sort of practice, as they felt it was wrong, while others believed that the sugar industry wasn’t able to function without this type of cheap labour. As mentioned in the first paragraph, the Gold Rush was greatly beneficial to the economy and trading market, although it wasn’t as beneficial to the Chinese and Kanake workers. The Chinese and Kanake workers suffered through extreme racism and unsafe conditions, all so they could be a