<P> The British government began transporting convicts overseas to American colonies in the early 17th century . When transportation ended with the start of the American Revolution , an alternative site was needed to relieve further overcrowding of British prisons and hulks . Earlier in 1770 , James Cook charted and claimed possession of the east coast of Australia for Britain . Seeking to pre-empt the French colonial empire from expanding into the region , Britain chose Australia as the site of a penal colony , and in 1787 , the First Fleet of eleven convict ships set sail for Botany Bay , arriving on 20 January 1788 to found Sydney , New South Wales , the first European settlement on the continent . Other penal colonies were later established in Van Diemen 's Land ( Tasmania ) in 1803 and Queensland in 1824 , while Western Australia , founded in 1829 as a free colony , received convicts from 1850 . Victoria and South Australia remained free colonies . Penal transportation to Australia peaked in the 1830s and dropped off significantly the following decade . The last convict ship arrived in Western Australia on 10 January 1868 . </P>
<P> The British government began transporting convicts overseas to American colonies in the early 17th century . When transportation ended with the start of the American Revolution , an alternative site was needed to relieve further overcrowding of British prisons and hulks . Earlier in 1770 , James Cook charted and claimed possession of the east coast of Australia for Britain . Seeking to pre-empt the French colonial empire from expanding into the region , Britain chose Australia as the site of a penal colony , and in 1787 , the First Fleet of eleven convict ships set sail for Botany Bay , arriving on 20 January 1788 to found Sydney , New South Wales , the first European settlement on the continent . Other penal colonies were later established in Van Diemen 's Land ( Tasmania ) in 1803 and Queensland in 1824 , while Western Australia , founded in 1829 as a free colony , received convicts from 1850 . Victoria and South Australia remained free colonies . Penal transportation to Australia peaked in the 1830s and dropped off significantly the following decade . The last convict ship arrived in Western Australia on 10 January 1868 . </P>
why did britain made australia a penal colony
why did britain made australia a penal colony
Seeking to pre-empt the French colonial empire from expanding into the region
Seeking to pre-empt the French colonial empire from expanding into the region