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Captain James Cook arrived in Botany Bay, near where Sydney is now,in 1788. Almost 800 convicts were in his fleet, commonly known as 'The First Fleet'. On the meeting of the European's and the aborigines, they had friendly intentions towards each other. The aborigines shared food and knowledge of the land with the settlers, but they received nothing in return. The settlers believed their civilisation to be far superior than the aborigines, and that resulted in some mistreatment of the natives.

As the Europeans spread, many aboriginal people tried to fight. A key leader in this was Pemulwuy, a member of a tribe near Botany Bay. He organised many attacks on the settlers and their land in and around the Botany Bay area. After Pemulwuy's eventual death, many Aboriginal people came to live at the fringes of the European society. They fell into many of the settler's worst customs; for example, alcohol.

In June 1839, a group of women, children and elderly aboriginal people near Myall Creek station were shot, and many were decapitated, or even hacked to death. The Myall Creek massacre attracted much attention; not because of the action, but because it was the first murder of Aboriginals by Europeans that the killer received the death sentence for.



Historians agree that anywhere up to 20 000 individuals were killed because of the various conflicts in the century the white settlers were expanding across Australia, 18 000 of them being aborigines. [|Europeans in Australia]

In the early 1800's, the European's begin to populate Tasmania, resulting in the 'Black Wars of Tasmania', which last until 1834. The white settlers began to migrate sheep to what was known as Van Diemen's Land, taking large portions of land, mostly from the central and southern parts of Tasmania. The Aboriginals resisted against this overtaking of their land, the white settlers went into a frenzy as attacks and murders occurred more and more often. In 1828, Governor Arthur proclaimed a martial law that made soldiers able to shoot or arrest any aboriginals in the settled areas. This proclamation began a war between the Aborigines and the white settlers in Tasmania Between the years 1829 and 1834, George Augustus Robinson, also known as the 'Conciliator', gathered aborigines from Tasmania with the colonial government. These aborigines were sent to Wybalenna, a settlement on Flinders Island in the Bass Strait. They were then forced into the white settler's civilisation and Christianity, they were forbidden to practise their cultures. Many died because of poor food, despair and respiratory disease. For more information, check out: [|The Tasmanian Invasion - Land War]

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Orignially, the aboriginal people accepted and even welcomed the white newcomers, but as the Europeans stayed, and it became clear they had no intention of leaving, the tension and aggressive manner substantially heightened. Some European settlers had very little respect for the aborigines, and rape and abduction of their girls and women was common.

At the settlement of Europeans, the settlers carried many diseases and sicknesses to Australia. The aboriginals had not formed any resistance in their health for these disease,s and unfortunately many died. This is one of the many factors that decreased the population of the Aborigines devastatingly. For more information: [|History And Heritage]

Another impact of white settlement was policies that affected the aboriginal people. Examples of these policies are the Protection policy and the Assimilation policy. The 'Protection policy' restrcted the aborigines movement, and prohibited alcohol. The assimilation policy involved the dilution of aborigine genes, making them appear to be normal pople, after a number of generations. The aboriginal people were to adopt the European way of living, and completely disregard their own heritage and culture. These policies affected the aboriginal people deeply, and often negatively, with their population being largely impacted by the numerous deaths as a result of the afore mentioned policies. The intention of the white settlers was to force the aboriginal culture, and people, to die out. Despite this, in 1962, aborigines were allowed to vote in federal elections, and later, the ban on alcohol was removed. For more information: [|Changing Policies Towards Aboriginal People]

Though there are many negative effects on the aboriginal people, and their place in society, there are some benefits of white settlement on them. Though many speak about the aboriginal society before white settlement as a utopian society, the aboriginals culture was not. There were foten droughts, which brought on famine. The society of today has many solutions for famine, with imported and genetically modified food. Also, the cruel and unforgiving punishments applied to tribe members who, maybe unwittingly, went against their law have been compeltely removed. For more information: [|White Settlement in Perspective]