On January 18, 1788, the first ships of the famed First Fleet sailed into Botany Bay on the Australian coast. The Fleet was comprised of eleven ships, and carried military men, their families, the crews of the ships, and the largest complement: convicts. This is a well known fact in history, that Australia was founded largely by convicts cast out from England. But a little context and nuance is needed to fully understand the situation of these convicts and their role in the founding of our favorite nation down under.
First, they were largely non-violent offenders. These men and women chosen by the crown to make the journey south were convicted of theft, prostitution, and other definitely criminal, but not all that dangerous acts. Many of them were also skilled in their trades and would prove invaluable to the construction and establishment efforts of colonization. England, with her colonial aspirations, knew full well that it was getting a two-for-one deal: remove these unwanted disruptive aspects of society and get free labor in their new colony. Typically, colonists would have to be invented to join the perilous mission with large land grants and hazard pay, but not when they were already wards of the state.
The typical convict only had a seven year sentence. During this time, in many cases, they were not bound in shackles and sleeping in cells in Australia, but instead working for free settlers by raising buildings and farming. While there were some prison-like chain gangs and work crews, many convicts lived life like the indentured servants who had been key to the early colonization of the American continent. And when their seven year sentence was up, they were eligible to receive a land grant, meaning they could stay in their new nation and end up with potentially hundreds of acres of land to call their own.
When we think of Australia’s founding at the hands of convicts, while it is technically true, there is granularity to the case. Yes, these were convicts, but rather than Australia being a prison-continent where the shorelines were the prison walls, it was a true colony where prisoners were used as laborers and a part of the larger effort. It was never the case that England simply loaded some ships with the dregs of society and let them free on the southern continent. Ultimately, these convicts, and the ones who joined them as the policy of transportation for prisoners continued, founded one of the major nations of the world.