Non-Essay

History of British Influence on Australia

The founding of Australia in 1788

The history of Australia can be classified into two main timelines. The first one is about the history of the Aborigines people which started from 40.000 years ago. They have been considered as the native people of Australia and one of the oldest civilizations in the world. In this part, history only covers aborigines and their interaction with the nature, and nothing else. However, the second timeline of the history started in 1788 when the British established Australia as a settlement for convicts. At this time, immigrants from all over the world came to Australia and thus shaping Australia into the nowadays heterogenic society.  It was the immigrants who also build up Australia from ashes into a modern and advanced country. However, the interesting part in the history of Australia after being colonized by the British is how the history itself, for a long time, was only viewed from the British point of view, rather than Australian. Ever since the establishment of Australia under English colony, the British had a very strong influence on Australia in every field of life, including the history. Fortunately, things have changed, especially in how Australian historian like Manning Clark tried to cultivate their own understanding about their history.  The purpose is to give Australian with their own distinctive self-identity that makes them different from the British or other Europeans. 

Australia from the British Point of View

In many Australian history books, the focus of discussion is about the arrival of British in 1788. The books explained how Captain Phillip, upon the arrival in Australia, encountered the Aborigines; or about Captain Cook with all his British lifestyle as well as the relationship between Australia and England. In short, the image of Australia was shaped from the British point of view only, and not through other minority cultures in Australia like Chinese, Aborigines or Javanese. For this reason, many people in Australia are more familiar with British history than their own country. 

In general, there are several points regarding the history of Australia based on the British point of view. First of all, the land of Australia was discovered on August 22, 1770 and claimed by Captain James Cook in Botany gulf as part of the British Empire. At that time, Australia was considered as terra nullius or a land without master. Secondly, although Australia was believed to be a homogeny society, yet social heterogeneity had actually occurred ever since the beginning of settlements in Australian history. In the beginning, Australia was designated as settlements for convicts from England. However, historical records proved that many non-English races such as Chinese, African, Malay and European had existed there from the beginning of colonization. Most of them worked as labors and, later, as free immigrants. Thirdly, there are some similarities of theme in classic literatures of Australia, in which most of them depicted the struggle of Australian against the harsh environment of the continent. In the stories, themes about England and Australian people are more focused, and little is discussed about Aborigines or Chinese people. These are the histories known by many Australian, i.e. history from the British point of view. Other histories such as Chinese, Italian or Canal were less concerned and remained vague. It was not until 1974 that the concept of Australia as a multicultural society became official; it was, however, formed after a long process. 

Until 1960, most Australians were ashamed with the origins of their ancestor. It has been a common knowledge that their ancestors were convicts and criminals. Robert Hughes wrote that if Australians knew about the fact, they would feel very embarrassed about their social history. 

Manning Clark

                However, a famous historian, Manning Clark, plays an important role in the history of Australia. He learned and taught Australian history based from the Australian point of view. It was expected that sense of nationalism can be developed by Australian through switching the historical point of view from British to Australian. This could be done by unfolding all factuality about history as truthful as possible. In this way, Australians could learn to accept the truth that not all of their historical tracks were ‘white’. For example, most of the time, history tells much about how the British were successful in taming the wildlife of Australia. Yet little had been said about how they ruthlessly treated Chinese labors or other minority races including the Aborigines. This is important because historical facts are much more valuable than false pride. By accepting the reality, Australian can understand their true self-identity.

Early gold mining in Australia

                The reason which makes British influence to be strong was because the geographical factor of Australia. For the first 100 years since its establishment, the relationship of Australia was limited to England and Europe only. Therefore, most British elements were absorbed in lifestyle, intellectual field, culture, and even esthetics of the Australian people. For the British, Australia was nothing but an ‘open prison’, a place where convicts and uncivilized people were gathered. However, it was not entirely true because not everyone who immigrated to Australia were prisoners. In its development, especially after gold mines were discovered in 1850, many non-convicts emigrants came to Australia and mixed with the free emigrants or convicts from England. 

Opinions about Australia based on the readings. 

There are two important things that make Australia successful as a developed nation. The first one is the sense of appreciation towards their original history and be proud of it. Even though the British put strong influence on their history, but overtime they were willing to change their mindset. In this way, not only the Australian could gain their self-identity, but they also became open minded and be developed. They accepted the reality that their ancestor was convicts, and be proud of it. In other words, the Australians are successful in taking a good thing from bad circumstances. This may be the key to Australia’s independent and developed nation. 

Aside of their willingness to accept their historical origins as part of the true identity, Australian’s hardworking attitude might be another factor that drives their development. Perhaps this is one of the good traits of having a convict ancestor. Their ability to survive in harsh conditions of Australia gives them a natural habit to keep on working hard for survival. We should not forget that when the British first settled in Australia, the situation there was still completely barren and wild. They were also limited with resources and yet, they worked hard and strive to build up the nation. And this attitude runs in their descendant’s blood over generations until now.  Impressively, they can also work together with people from various cultures and races in building the country, and thus, making Australia as one of the world’s most successful multiracial societies.