Not too fast please as it is for intermediate students. Thank you so much!
Between 1788, and the 1900s, the Australian Aboriginal population was reduced by 90%.
First of all, colonisation brought along its lot of diseases which had a horrific impact on the indigenous population. waves of epidemic diseases including smallpox, spread and annihilated many Indigenous communities. Governor Phillip reported that smallpox had killed half of the Indigenous people in the Sydney region within fourteen months of the arrival of the First Fleet.
But diseases were not the only issue that indigenous people had to face. Direct and violent conflicts between settlers and indigenous people had horrific consequences. The settlers wanted the lands so they massacred or poisoned entire clans to steal their lands.
From 1869 to the 1960s, one of the most shameful and traumatic episode of Australian history, known as the « Stolen Generation » took place. White people believed that Aboriginal people were deficient and that they needed to be « civilised ». The government forcibly took Aboriginal children from their families to educate them away from aboriginal culture and beliefs.
It may interest you to know:
colonisation (UK, Australia) vs. colonization (US, Canada)
civilised (UK, Australia) vs. civilized (US, Canada)