Colonization of Australia
... William Janszoon was the first European to land on Australia, but it was not colonized until 1788 . ... The first settlers being convicts by majority did not tarnish the reputation of Australia. ... After all, Australia is estimated to be one of the Earth’s oldest continents. ... When Dutch Janszoon landed in Australia 1606, his discovery was followed by 30 years of Dutch navigators charting the western and northern coastline, naming their discovery New Holland. ... Francois Pelsaert was in command of the Batavia when it was wrecked on rocks near the coast of Western Australia. ... These original criminals of Australia were famous as the first Europeans to be hanged on Australian soil. Being executed, their descendents had no influence on the land Australia would become; only the tales of their heinous crime could have tainted the future settlers. ... If she had foundered, the history of Australia would have been dramatically different. An interesting series of events caused Australia to house convicts. ... Transportation of convicts to Australia occurred until 1868. Over these eighty years, approximately 157,000 came to Australia. ... After this rather embarrassing incident, Bligh needed to be moved out of the way, and where better than Australia? ... He also recommended that the name be changed to Australia, which happened in 1817. Despite the first settlers consisting mainly of convicts, the only armed conflict between the settlers in the history of Australia occurred in 1854. ... This brief but fascinating glimpse at the section of history in which Australia’s beginnings lie can only start to tell us the fascinating tale of how it came to be the diverse land of today.