Was Captain Arthur Philip good to the convicts on the First Fleet?

Answer 1

Yes, he was.

The convicts were treated better on the First Fleet's ships than on the second and third fleets. Captain Arthur Phillip was fair and just, and he had a genuine desire to reform the convicts. Although he was compelled to treat the convicts as the prisoners they were, he tried (with very limited resources) to keep them as healthy as possible.

Thanks to Captain Arthur Phillip, the convicts on the First Fleet were treated surprisingly well. 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 their 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 avoided them coming 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.

Rations were not too limited, but sickness was rife, particularly cholera, fever, scurvy and dysentery. The convicts had a bucket of fresh water for drinking and washing and a bucket for their waste, and the convicts themselves had to empty the waste.

Convicts were not punished unnecessarily, but only if they did something that threatened the other passengers or the marines. Unfortunately, Phillip (who had quite high morals) could not be on all the ships at the same time, and the marines had a tendency to use the convict women for their own purposes. 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.