Backbencher

Lecture 4 discussed a variety of topics including myth, convicts and colonization. Australia and New Zealand both have a mythical sense to their history. Historians have often held a role similar to storytellers, in that they are keeping the native accounts of history alive. The role of the convicts transported to the region is also of importance to the history of Australia. As in the Botany Bay song discussed in class, it appeared to address the all criminals classifying them all as one group. This group was labeled convicts and sent away. However there was a twist in the song that seemed to almost rationalize criminal acts of the poor or down trodden. The song then seemed to point out that it should only be the willful career criminals that should be punished, and that you can’t catch everyone. The song begins to point out other crimes that should be “sent to the bay” like store owners and farmers. It seems that these convicts “sent to the bay” were simply lower class individuals that were guilty of trivial offenses, but the English wanted to clean up their streets hence, the transfer to places like Botany Bay.
Once these convicts arrived in Australia, it was believed that there could be could be a sense social order in Australia as well as New Zealand. It was thought these areas could be modeled after England. But, these attempts seemed useless with the growing numbers of convicts being transported there, and the discovery of gold. Which brings to question, why would England transport all of these convicts and then try to create a sense of social order?