Why did the English decide to Colonize Australia in 1788?
The colonization of Australia was the result of England being unable to handle . control or deal with its ever growing social issues in a resonable or humane manner. Remember this is a nation whose laws allowed the imprisonment and hanging of children as young as 8 years old for stealing a loaf of bread.Where the poor would be allowed to starve and be thrown off their land with no rights by ruthless landlords with no legal recourse open. Most of the convicts were sent to Australia for petty theft,political views(the toll puddle martyrs) prostitution, poaching or debts. Children of female convicts were sent with the mothers, and children born on the trip or after landing were called currency lads and lasses and considered incarcerated for the same term as the parent. England had to do something with its ever growing criminal population. It could no longer manage them on the prison hulks (Ships that had been decommissioned) that were anchored along the Thames and so had to send them away
