Prison colonies

When did humans first arrive in Australia?

The very first humans to arrive in Australia arrived around 53,000 years ago by sea. Today they are known as the Aboriginals (or the indigenous people of Australia.)

What did the Aboriginals do to the land?

The Aboriginals were hunter gatherers which meant they would hunt animals, bring them home, skin them, use the meat for food and the skin for clothes. Aboriginals weren't farmers.

Europeans?

In 1788 the Europeans came to Australia in hope of finding a new place to keep all of their prisoners, at this point there was about half a million Aboriginals in Australia.

Prison colonies?

When the Europeans came to Australia in 1788 they set up colonies for all the prisoners. The way the colonies worked was that if you did something wrong you would be sent to Australia to a colony do do work for however many years and once you had served your sentence you would be set free.

Released prisoners?

You would think that being released from a prison colony after years of work would be amazing! Well it would and it wouldn't, because once you got released you would be free but you would still be stuck in Australia.

How did the Europeans treat the Aboriginals?

When the Europeans came to Australia they tried to befriend the Aboriginals and see if they could be useful but the Aboriginals turned down all offers. Aboriginals feared the white people because they believed they where the returned dead.  After no civilisation from the Aboriginals the Europeans ended up killing them and stealing there land.