Backbencher

Lecture 4 focused on the settlement of Australia and New Zealand. Dr. Isern shared more pictures of mines and different settlement sites and also went into some detail and description about authority in both Australia and New Zealand. I though it was very interesting how he talked about kids in Australia doing whatever they want and then compared them to New Zealand kids who would behave in a more civilized manner instead of being out of control. Dr. Isern also talked about William McNeill who wrote his dissertation on the potato, and explained how his history crosses global boundaries but doesn’t discount them. We also talked about background to transportation. The most interesting part of this section was the explanation about Hulks. Hulks were old ships that weren’t sea worthy any longer and were used as floating prisons for convicts. I can’t imagine what the conditions would have been like on those ships, and I can’t believe that a government would actually consider Hulks as an option for convicts. In lecture we also talked about Norfolk Island and how there is virtually no crime even though the people who live there are all descendents of criminals and convicts. Another really interesting fact is that people in the underworld in London would actually commit crimes because they hated how they were living and they wanted to get a free trip to Australia. Lecture 4 was good because I am a Criminal Justice Major and I enjoy talking about all the convicts and how they were handled back in those days. As I said before, pictures also make lecture much more intesting.