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INDEX
WHO DID DISCOVER AUSTRALIA?
COLONIAL EXPLORATION
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British Exploration: The Canadian Connection
This came to a head in 1789 when the Spaniards seized four British trading vessels owned by Captain John Meares thaat were caught trading in the sound. Meares appealed to the British government for redress, and a major dispute quickly developed with Spain. The Spaniards claimed possession of the whole northwestern coast of America on the basis of the papal grant of 1494, and confirmed when their explorers had formally taken possession. Britain, however, contended that rights of sovereignty could be established only by actual occupation of the land, something it had already done by claiming Spanish Australia for Britain in 1770 (Britain had said nothing, hoping Spain wouldn't notice). It ratified its actions with the establishment of the New South Wales penal settlement of Sydney less than a year before the Nootka Sound incident erupted. The British seized upon Spain's action, and talked about going to war over it, no doubt seeing it as an opportunity to force the issue of a different approach to colonization. Spain should not be permitted simply to claim territory and prevent other Europeans from doing the same, the British argued, unless it was actually occupying and making use of that territory. In essence, Britain wanted to change the "rules" of colonization more to their favour. Rather than rely upon the edict of the Pope or some ritual act of possession to assert control over territory, it argued that relatively unoccupied lands ought to be accessible to any nation that could make productive (i.e. economic) use of them. Because of Spain's military weakness and Prussian diplomatic support on behalf of Great Britain, Spain yielded to the British demands. Britain's concept of colonization was written into the Nootka Sound Convention (signed in 1790, amended in 1794), which resolved the controversy between the two countries. The convention acknowledged that each nation was free to navigate and fish the Pacific and to trade and establish settlements on unoccupied land. In so doing, it gave the international nod of approval to Britain's right to establish the colony of New South Wales. To Britain, it was therefore of utmost importance to validate its claim of sovereignty by Cook in 1770 by establishing a colony on the east coast of Australia, so that it could bring the matter to a head in the international political arena without risking having Cook's claim declared invalid. The new rules, of course, clearly favored Britain over Spain. They were in a sense (and to oversimplify) an attack by the "new" Europe against the "old." Spain's approach to colonization in many ways dated from the 15th and 16th centuries. It depended heavily upon big and rather inflexible institutions &emdash; the crown, the military, and the Catholic church &emdash; and offered little in the way of incentives or opportunities to common individuals. Its economic thinking was based on the accumulation of bullion in Spain. The ceremonial nature of Spain's assertion of sovereignty &emdash; landing at a few selected points on the coast, erecting a cross, burying a bottle containing official documents at the foot of the cross, and then departing &emdash; suggests how limited its vision of colonisation was. Britain, by contrast, was pioneering the path of modern capitalism. It was much more commercial and industrial in its orientation, and a somewhat more democratic society. This meant among other things that it offered more opportunity to individuals hoping for economic gain and social mobility, and that commercial interests could pressure the government to follow a foreign or military policy more favorable to free trade or at least freer access to non-European resources. Britain was also a Protestant nation, in contrast to Catholic Spain, and therefore didn't see itself as under the authority of the Catholic church as the government of Spain did, or obligated to respect any ruling or agreement made by the Pope with third parties (Spain and Portugal, The Treaty of Saragossa, 1529). Though this might be an oversimplistic interprepation, its attitude might be viewed as more "modern" and less "medieval". The bottom line is, the two nations' approaches illustrated different kinds of European societies, and the Nootka Sound incident was the turning the point when the old began to make way for the new.
RELATED MAPS, CHARTS & ILLUSTRATIONS "Village abandonne par les naturels du pays et situe sur le Sound du Roi George III, dans la Nouvelle Hollande." Paris. 1800. RELATED WEBSITES |
Just 10 years before Cook set sail on his first voyage into the Pacific, Britain had defeated the French and Spanish in the Seven Year War, fought over territrorial rights in Canada. Cook visited the Sound in 1778, and traded for some sea otter pelts. Once his journals were published in 1784, the fur trade took off, much to the displeasure of Spain which believed it had sole trading rights in the area as it was in Spanish territory. 
Lieutenant George Vancouver, who was involved in the initial negotitaions, was the British envoy sent to implement locally the terms of the Nootka Sound Agreement. Once the job was completed, he was immediately despatched to the South Pacific to carry out further exploration and though not publicly stated, to tie up a loose end relating to the rest of the Australia. It bore Holland's name (New Holland) and according to according the Treaty of Saragossa it was in Portuguse territory, but under the new rules of play a large part of the Australian continent was still up for grabs. Within 60 hours of arriving off the Australian south coast, Vancouver had entered and named the first sheltered bay he found (King George Sound), gone ashore and claimed the western part of Australia for King George III - mission accomplished; the whole of Australia was now British territory. With his task completed, Vancouver went back to the north-west coast of America, stopping at Tahiti and then the Hawaiian Islands on the way. Vancouver sighted the coast of California (then known as New Albion) in April 1792. He examined the coast with minute care, surveying all inlets, discovering the Gulf of Georgia, and circumnavigating Vancouver Island (named after him). 