Backbencher

Lecture four fit in great with my favorite chapter Clark. The lecture told us how Australia and New Zealand were colonized. Australia, as we all know even before this class, started as something like a big prison. Apparently England was overflowing with criminals so they needed to start a new country to hold them all. Like we read in Clark, the criminals had a hard time to start facing starvation, hard labor, and home sickness. However, I would venture to say that I would rather be in some warm foreign country with alcohol and some free time then in a prison for the rest of my life. New Zealand was a different story however. That colony was started by wealthy second and third sons who had nothing for them in their home country.

I also find it funny that people in Australia today are proud that they come from a line of convicts. Maybe it is one of those things were you only have two choices, to be ashamed of who and were you come from or you can embrace it and pretend you are proud of it. I guess it is better to be happy with your roots then try to deny them.

Like others I did not know that England tried to use America in the same way it did Australia, for convicts. I guess my question is did the convicts in America find such hard times as the first convicts in Australia?