Outpost of Empire

The 18th century was a time of colonial expansion of European countries. Specifically, Great Britain applied a barbarous way to extend overseas territory. The establishment of colonies in Asia and Pacific Ocean laid a good foundation for the development of a British Empire of where the sun will never set. Among all the overseas colonies, Australia experienced a dramatic process of being colinised by British Empire. Captain James Cook reached the eastern coast of Australia in 1770. The declaration of colonisation, however, waited for another 16 years till 1786. In 1786, Lord Sydney urged the parliament to found Australia as the convict settlement of British Empire in the southern hemisphere. It was not until 1788 that 'First Fleet' arrived at the Botany Bay; and since then this 'Great Southland' had actually been proclaimed as the coloy of Great Britian. Long-term debate about why Great Britain established Australian colony after 16 years of the first landing of Captain Cook has never been stopped among Australian historians. Fundamentally, there are four ground arguments regarding the foundations of Australia. They are 'Dumping Ground theory' by historians like Manning Clark; 'Trade Theory' by Ken Dallas; 'Flax and Timber Theory' by Geoffrey Blainey; and the later developed 'Empire Theory' respectively. Each of them has own flaws.

"The Founding of Australia (1937)". Jan. 26th 1788, First Fleet arrived.  British flag were raised and Capt. Arthur Phillip proclaimed the colonisation of Australia in Sydney Cove. (Source:http://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/discover_collections/history_nation/terra_australis/firstfleet.html)

Australia as a place to punish unwanted criminals of Britain. (http://www.warrenfahey.com/oz-trad-music2.htm)

Concerning the 'Dumping Ground Theory', it is the most well-known and accepted argument about the foundations of Australia. Most historians tended to attribute Australia's establishment to the original intention of building up a overseas prisons for unwanted convicts by British government. To interpret Australia as a convict settlement, the contemporary global context need to be pinpointed. Within the Britain Isles, Industrial Revolution were taking place prosperously. With the large-scale emergence of factories, more and more people flooded from farms into cities. Subsequently, a growing number of middle class or proletariat sprung up. Inevitably, there was a sharp rise in crime rates. However, there were not enough prisons to incarcerate those so-called criminals as many of them were forced to commit crimes due to the unfair society and bad economy within Britain. Globally, America—Britain's biggest colony and convict settlement—began to resist Britain's inappropriate governance. The independence of America made Great Britain lose an important overseas convict settlement and resources base. Consequently, British government had to transport superfluous convicts to Australia. This theory has been criticised gradually. Some historians argue if it was real that Britain wanted to ease the pressure of overcrowded local prisons, those convicts would be sent to Africa or other islands in Europe or America. Why did Britain took such a distant and high-cost journey to Australia across oceans? Some argues because Australia has similar climate with Europe and tropical environment in America and Africa is not suitable for convicts' health. The problem is, even so, there were still many other better options for Georgian government.

In terms of the 'Trade Theory', Ken Dalla in his Trading Post or Penal Colony argues it was the motivation of opening more trade with Asia that pushed British government to select Australia as a ground of transit station. Since the industralisation rapidly developed inside England, the whole country had a great demand to export and import products globally. Ken Dalla later identified Britian's specific interest in the trade with China. Based on these reasons, Australia had been settled down by convicts. Such a synoptic plan must have had to be long-term planned. However, convict settlement in Australia was more like a tentatively decision made by British government due to the loss of American.

 

Geoffrey Norman Blainey (born 11 March 1930), prominent Australian historian, and his controversial book: The Tyranny of Distance (Sources:http://www.scouts.com.au/main.asp?iStoryID=10674 & http://www.seekbooks.com.au/book/The-Tyranny-of-Distance/isbn/9780732911171.htm).

Then there comes Geoffrey Blainey's 'Flax and Timber Theory' in his 1966's book—The Tyranny of Distance. He argues that Australia was selected as the naval base for British Empire to support Empire's colonisation in Asia. During that time, naval strength was the most important force of a country. The establishment of British Empire was greatly relied on the strong British navy. Obviously, the basic resources like flax for canvas sails and pine trees for ship's masts were as valuable as oil for today's life. He asserts that British was attracted to Australian's rich resources of raw naval materials. By gaining these raw materials, Britain could navigate to far East and conduct more trade with flourishing Asia and better control Asian colonies. Especially, during that time, there was a radical competition between France and England both in Europe and overseas. As a result, it was of great significance to occupy Australia—the new port to Asia and China. This is why British soldiers were even sent to western continent of Australia to warn French troops' landing in order to secure British benefits. Even in the wartime, Australia could be the staging post for British soldiers. Blainey's book has provoked abounding debates. It is controversial because it challenged the widely accepted theory of 'Dumping Ground'. Blainey is inclined to depict the convicts' transportation as a conspiracy by British government and the true goal was to gain resources. There are also limited evidence to support his 'Flax and Timber Theory'. Especially, British soldiers later found that raw materials in Australia were not good quality. The time and context of Blainey's writing might need to be considered as well. In 1966, Australia strove for slipping from the control of UK and struggled to rebuild national identity.

Furthermore, there is 'Empire Theory'. It argues that British felt the urgency to build Australia as the colony in far East because of the fierce economic and the military competition with France. Moreover, Settlement in Australia was easy to defend British Empire's Asian colonies like British India.

Perhaps, there was no single reason that could lead to the foundations of Australia. Instead, a variety of reasons and a combination of each theory contributed to the foundations of Australia. British comprehended the strategic importance of Australia of being the naval base and transit station for both trade and Asian colony defence. Certainly, a group of unwanted convicts were the most suitable candidates to conduct such exploratory activities.