The Europeans Reach Australia

The Europeans Reach Australia Dutch travellers sight Australia Tasman lands on the island later named Tasmania James Cook reaches Botany Bay, named New South Wales British penal colony formed. Sydney founded ACTIVITY Comment on the following statement by the American historian Howard Spodek: ‘For the indigenous [people] the effects of the American Revolution were exactly opposite to those of the settlers – expansion became contraction, democracy became tyranny, prosperity became poverty, and liberty became confinement.” The story of the interaction between the European settlers, the native peoples and the land in Australia has many points of similarity to the story of the Americas, though it began nearly years later. Initial reports from Captain Cook and his crew about encounters with natives are enthusiastic about their friendliness. There was a sharp reversal of feeling on the part of the British when Cook was killed by a native – not in Australia, but in Hawaii. As often happened, a single incident of this nature was used by colonisers to justify subsequent acts of violence towards other people.