With more and more of the world being discovered, European explorers traveled in search of new lands. Among them was British sea captain, James Cook. This expedition would land him on the coast of Australia which he would claim for Great Britain. This journey was immortalized in his journal which highlighted his observations and findings throughout the journey.
This would begin a long history of colonization throughout Asia and the Pacific by the British Empire. One colony would never reach Australia’s size but would remain a cornerstone to the British, Hong Kong. It was so important that it would remain part of the crown territories until it was handed over in 1997.
Letters Discovering Australia for Great Britain
In the 18th century, European nations were eager to explore and map the world. The discovery of the New World and the immense resources there led to Europeans searching for other lands. This was to learn more about the world, increase trade, and expand their empires. Great Britain was one of the many nations that organized expeditions, including one by Captain James Cook who set out in the late 1700s.
Captain Cook’s first voyage set sail 1768 aboard the HMS Endeavour and was meant to track Venus across the Sun from Tahiti. This was purely scientific research, but Cook was also secretly ordered to search for an unknown southern land that was believed to exist in the area.
After successfully observing the transit of Venus in Tahiti, Cook and his crew continued sailing across the South Pacific in search of this lost land. Things came to a head on April 1700 when they sighted land which was the east coast of Australia, making Cook and his crew the first Europeans to land on the continent. But they did not stop there, continuously sailing across the coast and mapping it out along with any people. Eventually, he would land on Possession Island on Australia’s northern tip where he planted the British flag and dubbed it New South Wales, officially claiming it for the British Empire.
Over the next few years, Australia would play an important part in the British Empire, serving as a penal colony, and would become one of the most important nations in the Pacific region.
Another major colony the British would capture soon after was India. But this would also spark a long campaign for freedom that ended with Indian Independence after WWII.
Many of Cook’s findings would be recorded in his journal.
“I now once more hoisted English Coulers and in the Name of His Majesty King George the Third took possession of the whole Eastern Coast from the above Latitude down to this place by the name of New South Wales.”
-James Cook, Captain of the Endeavor
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