14 Making a nation
Before you start
Main focus
In this chapter, we look at how Australia as a white settlement society originated, growing from a number of separate colonies to become a nation in 1901; and at the various groups of people that were part of that story.
Why it’s relevant today
It is important that every nation, including Australia, has a clear picture of its origins. Decisions and events in the making of the Australian nation still influence our lives, beliefs and values today.
Inquiry questions
- How did white settlement proceed in Australia; and how did this impact upon Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander societies?
- What were the contributions of South Sea Islander, Chinese, Afghan and Japanese people to making the nation? Were these contributions valued?
- What was the nature of the political democracy that white Australians developed?
- How was Federation achieved in 1901 and what was Australian society like at this time?
Key terms
- Benevolent asylum
- Dispossession
- Feminist
- Fire-stick farming
- Kanaka
- Manhood suffrage
- Peerage
- Real wages
- Referendum
- Restricted property franchise
- Squatter
Significant individuals
- Abdul Wade
- Alfred Deakin
- Bessie Cameron
- Edward Gibbon Wakefield
- Henry Bournes Higgins
- Henry Parkes
- John Macarthur
- Lowe Kong Meng
- Peter Lalor
Pronunciation guide
Cheok Hong Cheong
Liang Qichao
Louis Ah Mouy
Lowe Kong Meng
Tung Wah Times
Let’s begin
In 1788, there were approximately 750 000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander inhabitants of Australia. The British became determined to seize control of their lands; this led to conflict, many deaths and economic and cultural dislocation. Convicts and free settlers built an economy based on cheap land and labour, wool and gold. The settlers wanted to make a new society that was democratic and socially equal for members of their own kind. They created a new nation of the southern seas, with greater rights and better welfare for white citizens, including women, than in Europe and other countries. But their political radicalism and nationalism was tinged with a powerful racism: Indigenous, South Sea Islander, Chinese, Afghan and other people that had helped to shape the nation were excluded from citizenship rights.