Transportation of Convicts to Australia

Transportation of convicts to Australia was a practice used by Britain from 1788 to the mid-1800s, where Britain sent prisoners overseas as a form of punishment and to help establish colonies. Convicts were taken aboard ships and transported across the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans to Australia, where they served their sentences by working on farms, in construction, or other public works. This system helped create a penal colony that eventually developed into a thriving society. It was driven by overcrowded prisons in Britain and the need for labor in Australia’s growing colonies.