Early Colonial Settlements and Immigration
- British Settlement
- After 1788, Australia began as a penal colony, but by the 1820s free settlers arrived seeking land and opportunity.
- New Zealand Settlement
- Initially driven by missionaries and traders, formal colonization followed after the Treaty of Waitangi (1840).
- Government-Assisted Migration
- British authorities subsidized emigration for poor workers and families under settlement schemes.
- Push Factors
- Industrialization, unemployment, and rural poverty in Britain encouraged migration.
- Pull Factors
- The promise of cheap land, gold rushes (1850s), and social mobility attracted thousands from Britain, Ireland, and later Europe and China.
Definition
Penal Colony
- Settlement used to exile prisoners from the mother country.Penal Colony
Definition
Gold Rush
- Mass migration following discovery of gold (e.g., Victoria 1851, Otago 1861).
Land Distribution and the Growth of Pastoral Society
- Large Land Grants
- Wealthy settlers (often ex-officers or officials) received vast estates for sheep and cattle ranching.
- Pastoralism
- Economy based on wool and livestock became central to both colonies; “Australia rode on the sheep’s back.”
- Squatters:
- Unofficial settlers who occupied large tracts of Crown land without legal titles; later gained legitimacy.
- Crown Lands and Selection Acts:
- Governments introduced Selection Acts (1860s) allowing smaller farmers to purchase land, though squatters often used loopholes to keep control.
- Inequality
- Land concentration created a rural elite, while working-class settlers struggled to acquire or maintain property.
Definition
Squatters
- Settlers who illegally occupied land, later recognized as pastoral landlords.
Definition
Selection Acts
- Laws (especially in 1861 in NSW) designed to break up large estates and promote small-scale farming.
Case study
The Rise of the Squatter Class in Australia
Origins and Expansion
- Squatters began occupying unclaimed land in the 1820s–1830s, expanding beyond official settlement boundaries.
- Their estates supplied wool to British textile industries, linking Australia to global markets.
- The government tolerated squatters for economic reasons, granting them leases and legal rights by the 1840s.
- Known as the “squattocracy,” they became influential in politics and local government.
- Controlled much of the rural workforce, employing shepherds, convicts, and later immigrant laborers.
Social and Political Consequences
- Squatter dominance created class divisions in rural society between wealthy landowners and poor selectors.
- Selection Acts (e.g., NSW 1861, Victoria 1865) aimed to democratize land ownership but often favored squatters through loopholes.
- Disputes over fencing, grazing rights, and water access led to local “land wars” between squatters and small farmers.
- Indigenous peoples were displaced from their lands, with pastoral expansion destroying hunting grounds and sacred sites.
- The squatter elite influenced colonial parliaments and became the foundation of Australia’s rural conservative class.
Definition
Squattocracy
- Informal term for wealthy squatter landowners who gained political influence.
Definition
Land Wars
- Local conflicts between squatters and smallholders over territory and resources.
Colonial Society, Conflict, and Identity
- Urban Growth
- Cities like Sydney, Melbourne, and Auckland expanded as centers of trade and migration.
- Labor Shortages
- Immigration from Britain and China helped develop infrastructure but caused racial tension and later restrictions (e.g., White Australia Policy, 1901).
- Indigenous Displacement
- Aboriginal Australians and Māori lost control of traditional lands due to settlement and farming.
- National Identity
- Settlers developed pride in “the bush ethos” (self-reliance, equality, and toughness) distinct from British upper-class norms.
- Economic Foundations
- Wool, gold, and agriculture laid the groundwork for self-government and federation in both colonies by the early 20th century.
Definition
Bush Ethos
- Cultural ideal celebrating independence and resilience in rural life.
Common Mistake
- Overlooking Indigenous Impact: Settlement meant mass displacement and violence, not peaceful colonization.
- Assuming Selection Acts ended inequality: Large landowners retained control through legal loopholes and political influence.
- Confusing Squatters with Selectors: Squatters = large landholders; selectors = small farmers trying to compete.
Exam technique
- Use Chronological Structure: Start with penal colonies → squatters → selection laws → urban growth.
- Include Specific Acts and Dates: e.g., NSW Land Acts (1861), Australian Federation (1901).
- Compare Regions: Show how New Zealand’s system (post-Waitangi) differed from Australia’s squatter dominance.
Self review
- Examine the reasons for immigration and settlement in Australia and New Zealand in the 19th century.
- Assess the effects of land distribution and the Selection Acts on colonial society.
- To what extent did the rise of the pastoral economy transform Australian and New Zealand identities?
