Myall Creek Massacre Essay

In 1770, Captain James Cook discovered, and claimed Australia to be controlled by the control King George III of England. However by 1788, this new territory was colonized by what is known as the First Fleet, which consisted of eleven ships, and approximately 1,350 people. These colonists landed in Camp Cove, where they encountered the Cadigal natives. This was the first colony Britain set up in Australia. Soon after, the Second Fleet arrived with the necessary food and other supplies needed to survive. The majority of the Second Fleet was made up of British convicts, who among other crew, died on the ship traveling to Australia. The remaining people were able to set up a government, which was controlled completely by the British crown. The

After the First Fleet arrived on the continent in 1788, the British tried to set up a relationship with the Aborigines that was benevolent and peaceful, as Governor Philip instructed; however their actions did not reflect this same idea. Their interactions commonly ended with violence, and occasionally death, particularly in the Myall Creek Massacre. On June 10, 1838 there were twelve British men came into contact with thirty of the Aboriginals, or people of Wirrayaraay, at Myall Creek. Up until this time, the British people who settled in the area became increasingly skeptical of the native Australians, and this nervousness led to a series of conflicts with these native people; these conflicts ended with the death of the thirty aboriginals at Myall Creek. This massacre is a prime example of how the natives were impacted by the British settlers, because it was one of the most tragic of the frontier conflicts between the peoples. Not only were these natives killed on June 10th, these Wirrayaraay people were first rounded up, and then tied together before being killed by the British settlers soon after. The British settlers who tied up and murdered these natives were British convicts who were freed, and allowed to pursue the native tribes. This massacre exhibits the impacts of the British settlers on the Australian natives, because it shows how they were affected by the brutal treatment by the British convicts, who made up a majority of the British