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Effects Of Racism In Australia

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Britain was the biggest colony power in the world. Even the fall of the First Empire did not discourage the British from further colonization of ‘’unknown lands’’. In 1770, Captain James Cook claimed a portion of the Australian continent in the name of King George III. On his journey from Botany Bay to Cape York, Cook recorded several interactions with the indigenous population of Australia. Despite knowing about the continent being inhabited by one of the Earth’s oldest civilizations, Great Britain considered Australia terra nullius - land belonging to no one. With that said, the British went through with the plan of establishing a penal colony in New South Wales and in 1788, the First Fleet led by Captain Arthur Phillip arrived in Sydney Cove. This essay will focus on the effects of racism towards the Aboriginal population of Australia in the past and today.

Between 1788 and 1900, a large part of Australia’s indigenous population has lost their lives due to miscellaneous diseases. Aboriginal people were introduced to illnesses like smallpox, measles or tuberculosis, which were brought by the British convicts. Indigenous Australians had no immunity to these sicknesses, which led to the diseases spreading at a rapid speed and eradicating a large part of Australia’s indigenous population. According to Governor Phillip, smallpox has killed half of the Indigenous population settled in the Sydney region within a year since the First Fleet’s arrival. Moreover, Aboriginal girls
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