Sydney has one quality that makes it comparable to New York: it is the city where immigrants arrive, and it is also larger than the current capital. Sydney today can be called the cultural and economic capital of Australia, but the political capital is Canberra. But the history of Sydney has been going on since the time of the development of the continent by Europeans.
Ancient times
Naturally, the ancient history of the city is associated only with the aborigines who have long settled in these places. It goes back centuries, 30 thousand years ago, when a nationality belonging to the Kadigal group settled here.
But the history of the development of Australia by Europeans is associated with not the most rosy events in the history of Britain. If earlier convicts from Foggy Albion were exiled to America, now, with the beginning of the struggle for US independence, this has become impossible. It was then that the metropolis turned its gaze to Australia, a land that had not yet been developed, discovered by James Cook.
In order to settle here, they had to find a convenient bay, not subject to strong winds from the ocean, and it was this that became the starting point for the founding of Sydney - the city that was named after the British Minister of the Colonies. The captain of the sea caravan, which consisted of 11 ships and carried prisoners, Arthur Philip arrived in this bay and decided to establish a settlement there. At the same time, the captain announced that New South Wales (as Australia was then called) was joining Britain. This was in 1788.
Free British citizens began arriving on the fifth continent somewhat later - from 1815. Nevertheless, the preponderance of the composition of the white population in favor of the prisoners was still noticeable.
Rum riot
The officers who had a monopoly on alcohol also distinguished themselves in their own way. They behaved with the population as full-fledged owners, moreover, they used alcoholic beverages as "liquid currency", which caused the "Rum Riot". The civilian population began to clash with the military, and they used force to seize power. When the metropolis intervened, it got to both sides: the mutinous officers were punished; the governor seized by them was removed, and another was appointed in his place. This is the only military coup to have taken place in Sydney.
Of course, this is not the whole history of Sydney briefly, because there was also a forward movement associated with economic development, as a result of which we have today a developed city that has all the signs of a powerful economic metropolis.
