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- Britain’s population was stable till 1740; then it grew rapidly, giving rise to crimes & poverty.
- By 1770, crime had become a huge problem; prisons were so overcrowded that non-operational ships were used as prisons at one time.
- Earlier, convicts used to be transported to American colonies, but this practice had stopped after Britain’s defeat in American revolutionary war in 1783.
- Alternates to American colonies were investigated and Captain Cook, who had been to South Pacific in 1770 recommended Botany Bay (13 kms south of Sydney).
- 11 ships carrying 1100 people (convicts, seamen, civil officers etc.) and groceries arrived at Botany Bay on 20 January 1788.
- But it was found to be unsuitable, so ships moved to Sydney & reached there on 26th Jan (that is why 26th Jan is celebrated as Australia Day).
- Before the settlement of the British, Australia was occupied by Indigenous Australians.
- As soon as the British settled, some individuals took Indigenous Australian children away from their families and made these children live with Europeans.
- This was done to ‘inculcate European values and work habits in children, who would then be employed by colonial settlers’.
- As the population of settlers increased, the removal of children (as young as 4 years) became more of a government-led systematic process.
- In Victoria, e.g., the Aborigines Protection Act 1869 gave Protection Board powers to remove children neglected by parents – some cases of removal were genuine and others not so much.
- Governments said they were doing this as Indigenous people were dying because of evolution and that these steps were required to protect them from extinction.
- Records, however, suggest that Indigenous people were dying because they were being murdered by settlers.
- On 26th May 1997, ‘Bringing Them Home’ (a report of a two-year long national inquiry into the separation of children) was released to raise Australian people’s awareness of removal policies.
- On 26th May 1998, the first National Sorry Day was held and since then it is held annually to commemorate the mistreatment of Indigenous people.
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