Why the British Government decided to colonise Botany Bay :: essays research papers fc

Why did the British governing decide to colonise Botany Bay?In the evaluation of wherefore Britain colonize Botany Bay, Australia, one can draw on more conclusions. When the First Fleet arrived at Botany Bay in January 1788, infinitesimal did they realise that for years to come historians would be contesting the real reasons as to why the British Parliament planned to establish a colony in Botany Bay. The Botany Bay debate, as it has been known to be called, began among historians in the 1950s when Geoffrey Blainey said that it was colonised for strategic motives. These motives included such plans as there was a plant nursery to be established on Norfolk Island and Australia was to become a flax farm and a market garden that was to be surrounded by goal walls there had been a failure of the development of flax and pine on Norfolk Island, this at first had been very promising and that flax and shade were vital to Britains economy as explained by the British Politicians in many letters. Along with Blaineys argument came another debate, this being that Botany Bay, was colonised as it was a good outpost for trading purposes. The traditional interpret in the debate was that Botany Bay was the chosen place for the label population and it is this traditional view that my argument will follow. The idea of establishing a colony in Botany Bay started with the Matras Proposal in August 1783. Matras idea was that there was a possibility of a new colony of the Americans who had remained loyal to Britain during the contend of Independence, this idea being jilted by all. Botany Bay was then seen as a dissolvent to the ever growing number of filled rotting convict hulks along the River Thames and the overpopulated goals. The proposal for the establishment of the new colony being Heads of Plan intercommunicate the effective disposal of the convicts to the new colony. With Britain continuing to send convicts to Australia for many decades, the monetary value involved in transporting the convicts would be greatly decreased and it would be remedy than dealing with the problem of the overcrowded hulks and goals in England and the costs associated with feeding the convicts etc.Up until 1776 Britain had been transporting convicts to the American colonies but this practice was stopped with the outbreak of the American War of Independence.