Wayground logo

Free Printable Worksheets

Font size

S
M
L
XL
Worksheets

Australian history - Making a Nation revision

Total questions: 10

Worksheet time: 5mins

Name
Class
Date
1.

What was the name for the "unknown land of the South", bordering the Indian Ocean that had been hypothesised since ancient Roman times?

a)

Australia

b)

Opusculum geographicum

c)

Terra Australis Incognita

d)

the Antipodes

2.

In 1606, navigator Willem Janszoon was the first confirmed European to see and explore part of Australia. From what country did he come from?

a)

Great Britain

b)

Deutschland

c)

Spain

d)

Holland

3.

At the time of European settlement, how many languages were spoken in Australia?

a)

1

b)

approximately 12

c)

at least 250

d)

there was no recognisable language spoken

4.

Which places are named in honour of the first English explorer to map the East coast of Australia 18 years before the arrival of the First Fleet?

a)

Tasmania, Jamestown

b)

Sydney, Newcastle

c)

The Town of 1770, Cooktown

d)

New South Wales, Flinders Ranges

5.

What was the name of the first Governor of NSW?

a)

James Hunter

b)

Arthur Phillip

c)

James Cook

d)

William the Duke of Cambridge

6.

Who was the second Governor of NSW?

a)

John Hunter

b)

Arthur Phillip

c)

William the Duke of Cambridge

d)

James Cook

7.

What we now know as Sydney Harbour was named what by James Cook?

a)

Cook Harbour

b)

Port Jackson

c)

Sydney Cove

d)

Parramatta Harbour

8.

Why did the First Fleet relocate to Port Jackson on the 26th of January 1788 after first landing on the 18th of January in Botany Bay where Capt James Cook had surveyed 18 years before?

a)

The Indigenous people, the Eora were ferocious fighters and repelled the settlers.

b)

They were instructed to by the Admiralty.

c)

The bay was relatively unprotected and was too shallow to anchor the ships.

d)

A French explorer Jean-François de La Perouse had already landed in Botany Bay.

9.

What British legal principle was invoked that allowed the settlers to claim land in the new settlement in spite of the clear evidence that the land was already occupied?

a)

quid pro quo

b)

non est inventus

c)

terra nullius

d)

habeas corpus

10.

What was the primary catalyst for the decision in 1785 to establish a penal colony in the newly discovered land of New South Wales?

a)

Benjamin Franklin invents bifocal spectacles in 1784

b)

The signing of the Treaty of Constantinople in 1784

c)

The American War of Independence ending in 1783

d)

in 1785 the dollar (and a decimal currency system) is unanimously chosen as the money unit for the United States