Why did Britain send convicts to Australia?
Britain sent convicts to Australia mainly because its prisons were overcrowded and it could no longer send convicts to the American colonies after the American War of Independence. Australia also offered strategic and trading advantages.
During the 1700s, British courts sentenced many people to transportation for crimes ranging from theft to serious offences. Before 1776, many were sent to America.
After American independence, prisoners were held on rotting ships called hulks on the River Thames, which became dangerously overcrowded. The government needed a new solution.
A new colony
Following James Cook's voyage of 1770, the British government chose Botany Bay in New South Wales as the site of a new penal colony. The First Fleet arrived in January 1788.
Historians also suggest Britain wanted to establish a presence in the Pacific, gain access to timber and flax for its navy, and prevent other European powers from claiming the region.
Convict transportation continued until 1868, with Western Australia receiving the last convict ship. Convict labor built roads, buildings and farms that shaped the early colonies.