Australia 1871 CE

What is happening in Australia in 1871CE

Throughout this period, exploration expeditions, many of them epic tales of endurance, have mapped the interior of the continent. These have been followed (where the environment makes this possible) by settlers. These have usually been squatters grabbing large parcels of land for their ever-increasing flocks of sheep.

Although the transportation of convicts has been phased out between 1840 and 1868, hundreds of thousands of settlers continue to arrive in Australia, mostly from Britain. Gold rushes in the 1850’s tripled Australia’s population, and greatly expanded the economy. The expansion of white settlement has been marked by the creation of the colonies of South Australia in 1836, Victoria in 1851, Queensland in 1859 and the Northern Territories (initially, oddly, as a part of South Australia) in 1863. These colonies, like New South Wales, have become self-governing units under their own assemblies.

This phase of Australian history has been marred by a policy of enforced Europeanizing of aborigines, including the taking of aboriginal children from their parents and the hunting down of recalcitrant groups. Along with the disease that the Europeans have brought with them and the land grabs of the white man, this has contributed to the demographic collapse of the aboriginal population by probably two thirds.