History Of Convicts In Australia

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Between 1788 and 1868, around 160,000 British and Irish convicts were transported to Australia on 608 convict ships. Convict transportation was used as a form of punishment sometimes used as replacement for the death penalty. The punishment of convict transportation was used as punishment for a range of crimes from petty theft to murder and the sentence ranged from 7 years to life. The transportation of convicts to Australia started after America was refusing to take any of Britain’s unwanted convicts; because they thought that slave labour was easier to manage. Wealthy land owners were buying more farms, and then forcing poor farmers to move out of their homes replacing them with new expensive farming machines which can get jobs done easier

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