History T1 federation Flashcards
to learn about federation
When did Australia federate?
1st of January 1901.
Who was Sir Samual Griffith
Sir Samual Griffith played a pivotal role in Australia’s federation and led the drafting of the constitution. He was also a politician, a judge and a lawyer.
Who was Australia’s first prime minister?
Edmund Barton.
Who was the federation architect?
Andrew Inglis Clark. He wrote up most of the constitution and took ideas from the constitutions for USA and England.
What is a convention?
A formal meeting usually with members of a political party.
What does oration mean?
A formal speech usually given at a ceremony.
Why was the Tenterfeild Oration so important for Australia’s federation?
It was the first time that a direct appeal had been made to the public to support federation. Before this it had only been politicians and people in power who participated in these conversations. The messaged from the Tenterfeild oration where then shared with many different audiences. This encouraged and grew support for federation.
Why is a constitution important (what is it)?
It sets out the rules and laws for how a country is governed. It also says how decisions are made and what peoples rights are.
What is a referendum?
A general vote by the public on a single political decision. It is a yes or no vote.
What was womens suffrage (how was it important for federation)?
Womens suffrage is the right for women to vote and hold a position in parliament. It is important because before federation only men could vote which meant that when they voted they were only representing half of the population.
What was the federation convention and why was it important?
It was a formal meeting held to draft Australia’s constitution. There were representatives from each colony and NZ.
Name as many reasons for federation as you can.
- free trade (federation would get rid or expensive tariffs when transporting goods over borders)
- defence (federation would combine all of the colonies small defence forces to make 1 big one)
- immigration (federation would keep out immigrants)
- national pride (people were identifying as Australian and wanted that to be recognised)
- transport (people hoped that federation would make all the train tracks the same width)
- laws (laws would be able to be better enforced if they were the same everywhere)
- women’s suffrage (federation would improve the chances of women getting more rights)
Name as many reasons against federation as you can.
- powerful states (bigger states didn’t want to share and smaller states were scared of a power in-balance)
- ties with England (people didn’t want to cut of ties with their mother country)
- unions (unionists believed that workers had a better chance of getting better wages in separate colonies)
- QLD cane farmers (still wanted cheap labour from immigrants)
What does federation mean?
federation is when a group of separate colonies or states join together to form 1 united nation under a federal government.
Who was the father of federation?
Henry Parkes. He supported and began the major push for Federation. He was the main speaker at the tenterfeild oration where he tried to convince people that federation was a good idea.
