Introduction
The history of humanity is the record of inventions and discoveries made in different periods in its development. In this record, the discoveries of new lands, islands, and continents take a special place as far as they widened the knowledge of the human beings about the Earth and added to the shaping of modern society. Discoveries, such as Columbus’ discovery of America, have also contributed to the development of the economies of numerous states and impacted the progress of sciences and technology.
The discovery of Australia by James Cook is another significant event in the world’s history because it both completed the geographical maps of the world and gave birth to one of the most original and culturally rich nations – the Australians. The focus of this paper will cover the initial stages of the development of the Australian colony of New South Wales in the period between 1788 and 1792. This paper will examine the major concerns and preoccupations that the colonizers faced in their settling and working on the newly discovered land, including their internal issues, exploration of nature, unknown diseases, conflicts with the native inhabitants of the continent, etc.
Background
To begin with, it is necessary to briefly recollect the background of the period under consideration. First of all, the late 18th century was the time when all the possible geographical discoveries were thought to have been made. Fleets of such colonialist countries as Great Britain, France, Spain, and others explored the seas and oceans discovered looking for some islands where they could either get additional labor force in the form of slaves or obtain access to the natural riches or launch the markets to sell their products.
Australia became the last geographical discovery of global importance and served Great Britain not only according to the above-enumerated needs but also as an exile place where numerous dangerous criminals from the United Kingdom were sent. However, both the military forces of Great Britain and the criminals they were sent to supervise were further directed at one joint aim – an exploration of the new land in order to develop the appropriate conditions for living and building a civilized society. To civilize the native inhabitants of Australia on the whole and New South Wales, in particular, was one of the major tasks set for the explorers. As a result, this aim posed serious challenges for the latter, and they will be discussed in the following passages.
Major Concerns
Natives
The first concern that the settlers of New South Wales had to deal with after their arrival from Great Britain was the issue of establishing contacts with the native inhabitants of the area. However, at the initial stages of the development of these contacts, the natives demonstrated their hostility and reluctance to accept the proposed friendship or adjust to any customs of the newcomers: “Unabated animosity continued to prevail between the natives and us: in addition to former losses, a soldier and several convicts suddenly disappeared and were never afterward heard of. Three convicts were also wounded, and one killed by them, near Botany Bay: similar to the vindictive spirit which Mr. Cook found to exist among their countrymen at Endeavour River, they more than once attempted to set fire to combustible matter, in order to annoy us.” (Tench, Ch. 2)
The conflicts with the native inhabitants of New South Wales ranged from the separate attacks they undertook to cause damage to the British forces to the kidnapping of soldiers and civilians and killing them in a violent manner. The exploration of the unknown areas of New South Wales was also connected with the contacts with natives. Examining the areas of Botany Bay and trying to find the unknown rivers that should have marked the borders with China, the British soldiers were subject to violent attacks of the natives and had to seek ways to regulate their relations with the latter.
When nothing predicted the possible improvements in the relations with the native inhabitants of New South Wales, the manifestations of friendship and goodwill assisted the British colonizers in this problem. The examples of the natives, who were “civilized,” learned English, and lived in accordance with the European customs showed the Indians that the newcomers were not on their territory to hurt. Missions were created consisting of the colonizers and the civilized natives to be sent to the settlements of the Indians, and soon “an intercourse with the natives was about to commence” (Tench, Ch. 9)
After these improvements, the native Australians became the assistants to the colonizers in their concerns about the exploration of the new land, finding out the specific features of flora and fauna of New South Wales, and naming the discovered phenomena in accordance with their native words. Thus, the peaceful cooperation of the European colonizers and the native inhabitants of New South Wales provided for the successful civilizing of the area.
Internal Problems
One of the major groups of concerns that the explorers of New South Wales faced could be observed in the internal structure of their Military Corps. As it has already been mentioned, the forces of the people who settled in New South Wales consisted of both convicts and soldiers sent to control them. As a result, numerous misunderstandings between the two sides of the same group of people sprung out from time to time. These conflicts resulted in robberies conducted by the convicts who escaped from the camps where they were held: “…hardly a night passing without the commission of robbery” (Tench, Ch. 4).
To fight these issues, the military authorities had to introduce the system of guards selected from the number of the most reliable convicts, who had to patrol the camps and residences of all the soldiers and convicts in it. Also, the system of tattoos was established to mark the time after which no one was allowed to walk the camp. All the violators of this rule were arrested and tried according to the martial laws. The guardians themselves were under the severe control of the authorities: “Any negligence on the part of those who shall be employed on this duty will be punished with the utmost rigor of the law.” (Tench, Ch. 5)
Moreover, the convicts used to rebel against the authority in an open way and settle their disputes with natives violently: “Sixteen convicts left their work at the brick-kilns without leave, and marched to Botany Bay, with a design to attack the natives, and to plunder them of their fishing-tackle and spears: they had armed themselves with their working tools and large clubs” (Tench, Ch. 3). In this case, the natives managed to defend themselves against the violence of the convicts, but the very presence of such facts was a rather troublesome sign for the British authorities in New South Wales.
Finally, the internal issues were observed among the sailors of the British Navy in New South Wales: “Six marines, the flower of our battalion, were hanged by the public executioner, on the sentence of a criminal court, composed entirely of their own officers, for having at various times robbed the public stores of flour, meat, spirits, tobacco, and many other articles (Tench, Ch. 3). These cases are closely connected with the next group of challenges faced by the first settlers of New South Wales. People could not adjust to the climatic conditions and natural environment, which caused them to starve and look for any means to feed themselves.
Exploration
Thus, exploration of the natural resources of the continent discovered was another major concern of the British settlers. The inability to initially adjust to the conditions of the local environment, the supposed impossibility to cultivate the usual European corms and seeds and the inappropriate climatic conditions of the continent made the European settlers suffer a lot during the period between 1788 and 1792. The continent presented no facilities for the comfortable life and work, and the first settlers considered New South Wales to be hostile to the newcomers: “We were eager to escape from tents, where a fold of canvas, only, interposed to check the vertical beams of the sun in summer, and the chilling blasts of the south in winter.” (Tench, Ch. 1)
Moreover, the attempts of the settlers to cultivate certain grain types of vegetables in New South Wales turned out to be failing. The soil was not so fertile as in Europe and demanded additional fertilizers to produce at least minimal crops. As the fertilizers were not available in the area, the settlers had to leave the idea for the better times: “Almost the whole of the officers likewise accepted of small tracts of ground, for the purpose of raising grain and vegetables: but experience proved to us, that the soil would produce neither without manure; and as this was not to be procured, our vigor soon slackened; and most of the farms (among which was the one belonging to government) were successively abandoned.” (Tench, Ch. 1)
Drawing from this, the soldiers who had to practice their martial skills were involved in agricultural, and building works in order to create the basis for the further development of civilization in New South Wales. Needless to say, “incessant toil” and lack of the proper food caused numerous diseases among the new settlers (Tench, Ch. 1). Some of them were introduced by the newcomers, while others were the usual Australian illnesses conditioned by the incompatibility of the organisms of the newcomers and the food and environment observed in New South Wales.
Diseases
Thus, diseases constituted a substantial part of the concerns of the new settlers in New South Wales. The first manifestations of the health problems that Europeans had in Australia were the deaths of hundreds of sailors either during their passages to the continent or in hospitals after their arrival to New South Wales. Moreover, climatic conditions of such regions as Batavia, New South Wales, and others were hostile to human health. Numerous soldiers and civilians died of fevers caused by unusually low temperatures observed in those times in the harbor of Sydney, Rose Hill, and some other regions of the colony.
At the same time, the most serious preoccupation that the settlers had to deal with was the fighting with the smallpox epidemic that burst out in New South Wales in April 1789. The British soldiers found numerous Indians dead of the unknown disease that suddenly appeared as the major threat to the population of New South Wales. All the symptoms of the illness reminded the ones of smallpox, but “but how a disease, to which our former observations had led us to suppose them, strangers, could at once have introduced itself, and have spread so widely, seemed inexplicable.” (Tench, Ch. 4)
The pictures of the epidemics were really horrifying, especially for the people that had arrived on this land several months ago. Arabanoo, one of the natives adjusted to living among the European settlers, is reported to die from smallpox, but he was not the only victim. The epidemic touched upon the European settlers, as well as led to the deaths of the prominent military officers who served in the British Navy in Australia.
On the whole, the smallpox epidemics took the lives of thousands of people all over the newly discovered continent: “Here they found an old man stretched before a few lighted sticks, and a boy of nine or ten years old pouring water on his head, from a shell which he held in his hand: near them lay a female child dead,and a little farther off, its unfortunate mother…” (Tench, Ch. 4)
Conclusion
To conclude, it is obvious that the first colonizers of Australia had numerous concerns and preoccupations in New South Wales in the period between 1788 and 1792. The major concerns consisted in establishing friendly relations with natives, overcoming their hostility, and civilizing them. Moreover, the British colonizers were preoccupied with exploring the natural environment and discovering the natural resources of the continent. Finally, the colonizers had the development of the appropriate infrastructure of the area for further living in it as their major concern. Dealing with these preoccupations and facing severe challenges, the first New South Wales settlers were happy to leave it in 1792, but their contribution to its development is difficult to overestimate. The years considered can be called the “formative years” in Australian history as the first colonizers put the basis for the further development of the country and its formation into an independent nation of today.
Works Cited
Tench, Watkin. “A Complete Account of the Settlement at Port Jackson.” 1792. Free Read. Web.