Essay On Why Did The British Send Their Convicts

Britain was a country that over time started to get over populated, the British needed to find a new place that they could settle and send their convicts to. The British had many push and pull factors that made them want to establish a settlement in New South Wales. Some of these factors included that the convicts couldn’t be sent to the US anymore, the industrial revolution was also a huge factor and they were drawn to Australia to start a new settlement there.
When the war of Independence ended in America, the British had to find a new place to send their convicts. The British were sending almost more than 1,000 convicts per year to the US. Experts estimated that over 52,000 British prisoners were shipped off to colonial America between 1718 …show more content…
The British were looking for a new place to provide punishment for all of their convicts/prisoners. As America had become an independent country, the British were not allowed to send their convicts there anymore. When the Dutch sailed down the west coast of Australia they said that it was too dry to plant anything or provide punishment. When Cook travelled along the East coast of Australia, he spoke so favorably about the new found land that he had discovered. Cook found that this new discovered land had the perfect climate for a new settlement and it had the perfect vegetation for plants and food. When the British heard what Cook had found on the east coast they thought that it was the perfect place to establish a new settlement. They also thought that it would be a suitable place for trading with China, as they could build two separate ports with easy access so they could trade. They also thought that it would be a very strategic base in times of war. The British were drawn to Australia to establish a settlement due to the right climate, vegetation and it was a suitable place to trade with