POLITICAL INFLUENCE ATTRIBUTABLE TO CONVICTS According to the online Oxford Dictionary, ‘politics’ is defined as ‘the activities associated with the governance of a country or area, especially the debate between parties having power’ and ‘activities aimed at improving someone’s status or increasing power within an organization’. Within this part of my analysis, I aim to assess the political achievements pioneered by convicts in the late 18th and early 19th century.The focus of my research is to try to discover if convicts campaigned for a democratic state, and how convicts shaped Australian democracy today. Additionally, I consider my proposition of ‘free- thinking’ convicts who, I believe, were the most suitable candidates to develop revolutionary ideas in the newly established settlement. I compare any developments in the political state to the situation in England, looking to see if the new-found colonies were more politically
than the proportion of people descended from free settlers. However, the convict stain has been a cultural trope for a long time, and possibly still fuels researchers to investigate sources of convict history.‘Just as once the convict stain prevented navel-gazing, the conquest of Aboriginal Nations provides a profound and lasting scar on society that has often been more comfortable to ignore. A grand narrative of spectacular economic growth does not drown out Black History: it was predicated upon it’ (Maxwell-Stewart and Oxley, n.d). Were social developments really indebted to convict servitude? My theory that convicts may have been more open to revolutionary ideas of the time, due to their tendency to break social guidelines, has been proven true in some part.Without a doubt, convicts and emancipated felons had a large impact on the developing theory of gender equality. In part, the equality was forced due to the limited supply of women, however, the convicts were clearly responsible for pioneering women’s rights, with the early introduction of the woman’s right to vote in 1895, which ultimately meant that Australia was a much more equal society compared to England, right up until the late 20th century. By contrast, the governing officials were responsible for preventing a more rapid development of gender parity, due to their deep-rooted beliefs that women were the less superior of the two genders. Unfortunately, despite their willingness to increase the role of women, the convicts were less accepting of the concept of ethnic equality with the Indigenous communities of Australia. This prejudice was, however, shared by all groups in the colony: free settlers, ruling classes and convicts. Perhaps they were more open than their counterparts back in England, but ethnic equality was not an idea willingly promoted by colonists. Instead, they attacked, alienated and eradicated many traces of the Indigenous people of Australia and then attempted to justify this early act of genocide. Initially, their background as criminals and convicts did tarnish the reputation of the subsequent generations, presenting them as unruly and uncivilised people. However, that image soon faded and, in the long-term, Australia’s convict history has only benefitted the nation, now offering a unique history with World Heritage landmarks.Australia’s convict past now attracts millions of tourists annually, having an immensely positive impact on its economy. Overall, the evidence clearly suggests that convicts have significantly helped to develop Australia socially, ingraining new theories into everyday life, which has helped to make Australia the successful society it is today.
advanced than their mother country. ‘Freedom, democracy and responsible
government weren’t handed to the Australian colonies without a struggle’, according to Dr Moore, of Monash University, who led the Conviction Politics Project to investigate the link between convicts and democracy (Moore, 2019). Convicts aren’t often celebrated for their contribution to Australia’s progressive political traditions.According to Moore (2019),The British Empire, with the assistance of merchant ships and the Royal Navy, practically facilitated the global movement of unfree workers, together with administrators who moved across colonies, forming an imperial ruling class. Moore further suggests that about 1 in 45 of the 164,000 prisoners sent to Australia were citizens whose quest for political liberty in their homeland was considered deeply threatening to the status quo.They represented the discontents of the ruling class, people who were protesting and agitating for democracy.They also brought ideas of worker rights and citizenship that they then sought to implement in the colonies. Democracy was achieved in Australia in advance of England in the 19th century.When the First Fleet arrived at Sydney Cove in 1788, five years had passed since Britain had lost the War of Independence and, therefore, the right to send prisoners across the Atlantic.A year later, in 1789, the people of Paris stormed the Bastille, marking the beginning of the French Revolution. In 1792, the new French republic declared war on Britain.A possible reason Britain didn’t experience a political revolution of its own is because it exported so many of its political activists to Australia. One of the least-free jurisdictions on the planet, therefore, became quite free and democratic compared to other nations in the later 1850s and 1860s.
41
Made with FlippingBook Digital Publishing Software