What was life like as a free settler on the first fleet?

Answer 1

Living conditions for the convicts on the First Fleet were quite harsh. The convicts spent most of their time below decks, with a bucket for water and a bucket for waste, although they were also permitted up on the deck to dispose of waste.

Conditions were very unsanitary, and dysentery and cholera were common, though less common than on subsequent fleets. The convicts shared ship space with rats. They were given small rations of basic flour and salted meat. Occasionally they were permitted to walk around the decks for exercise. Women were often used by the marines for their "entertainment". Many of these women willingly traded their services for extra rations.

The officers and marines had it far better, being given decent rations and living quarters. However, when food was readily available, Phillip saw to it that the convicts received sufficient food, because he certainly wanted them to be healthy enough to stand up to the rigours of building a new colony.

Punishments were, surprisingly, not so harsh. Governor Arthur Phillip was a fair and just man, and he often protected the convicts from the officers, inflicting harsher punishments on his own men who did the wrong thing than upon the convicts themselves.

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Answer 2

Thanks to Captain Arthur Phillip, the convicts on the First Fleet were subjected to better conditions than convicts of subsequent fleets. Phillip was, in fact, harsher in his discipline with the marines and sailors than he was with the convicts. He was concerned at all times for the convicts' health, trying to give them sufficient rations of food and water, and allowing them above decks for some exercise and fresh air as often as was possible. He knew that they would be invaluable to the building of the new colony.

Phillip avoided having the convicts come above decks when the ships hit the rainstorms and wild weather once they crossed the equator, because he knew they had no linens or blankets to dry themselves, and he wanted to limit illness among the convicts.

The women were subject to be used promiscuously by the sailors, but in many cases they were quite willing to sell themselves for a bit of extra food.

Answer 3

Answer 1:

A convict is just another word for slave, so as you can imagine slaves did not lead a good life.

For the first few years in Australia it would have been terrible, they were forced to work the land and build the new colony's estates and mansions for the government.

However, if a convict was well behaved and trusted they were often allowed to become free settlers and so they spread across the continent. This led many of the settlers to say to their families back in Ireland and England to get to Australia in any way they could. So many people back in the old country began commiting petty crimes in order to be sent to the new world where they could begin a new life with plenty of land for all.

Answer 2:

The convicts did very little while they were actually on the First Fleet. They did not help with the maintenance of the boats, but spent much of their time below decks. There was nothing to occupy their time or their minds. The convicts stayed below decks on the ships of the First Fleet and were allowed up on the decks for exercise, but at night they were locked below decks.

The convicts were most commonly punished by being placed on reduced rations, meaning they were given less food, or certain privileges such as tobacco, tea or sugar were withdrawn.

The Cat o' nine tails was a particularly vicious type of punishment. This was a whip with nine cords of leather, each of which had a metal triangle embedded in the end. A convict was given between 10 and 50 lashes (in some case more), and within just a few lashes, the flesh would be ripped out, sometimes to the point where the bone was exposed.

Once they arrived in Australia, it was a different matter.

Australia was very strange for the convicts and settlers of the First Fleet. When the first European settlers arrived in Australia, they found a hot, humid country. The bushland was thick and unlike anything they had at home - instead of green, grassy hills and green trees, they found rocky terrain and strange, grey-green trees that smelled strong and sweet. There was an eerieness to the bushland, because it seemed all the same to their inexperienced eyes, and stories of the Aborigines were exaggerated to make the convicts fear stepping outside the camps. Any who did escape quickly became lost, and many convict bones lie scattered in the bush where they became hopelessly lost, and unable to fend for themselves. There were strange hopping animals - the 'kangaroo' - and strange, noisy birds such as the kookaburra and cockatoos.

The heat and humidity made it difficult to motivate the convicts to work, and English tools and implements were unusable in the tough Australian soil. very few of the convicts had any skill in farming, and as a result, in the early years the colony nearly starved. It took some time for Sydney Cove to become self-sufficient, and for the first few years, the colony relied entirely on the supplies of the second and third fleets.

Answer 4

The only civilian free settlers on the First Fleet were the wives and children of some of the marines. No other settlers sought passage on the convict-dominated Fleet. For these few, they enjoyed the same privileges as the marines.

Answer 5

Prior to boarding the First Fleet, the convicts were stripped of everything they had. They could not even take a spare set of clothes with them. many of them had not seen their families for many months, as they had been aboard the ships for some time before the fleet actually sailed.

The convicts felt confused, disoriented and bewildered: they were travelling thousands and thousands of miles from their homes. They were afraid: uncertainty for their future lay ahead, and many of them didn't even know where New South Wales was.

The health of the First Fleet convicts was surprisingly good, and better than subsequent fleets. Captain Arthur Phillip considered the needs of the convicts, ensuring that there was sufficient lime juice to help prevent scurvy. Phillip did not condone violence towards or abuse of the convicts. The First Fleet had the best record of all the other fleets for health and treatment of the convicts. Nonetheless, the convicts experienced considerable seasickness, especially when the fleet sailed through turbulent seas and encountered stormy weather on the last leg from Cape Town to New South Wales. Captain Phillip avoided having the convicts come above decks when the ships hit the rainstorms and wild weather once they crossed the equator, because he knew they had no linens or blankets to dry themselves, and he wanted to limit illness among the convicts.

The women were often violated: they were used and abused by the male soldiers who were keen for a bit of entertainment. While the women were subject to be used promiscuously by the sailors, in many cases they were quite willing to sell themselves for a bit of extra food.

Answer 6

it was dark

Answer 7

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