Ethnocentricity

How did the ethnocentricity of the British and the First Australians cause conflict between the two groups?

The two groups that met in Australia, the Aboriginals and the British, came from very different backgrounds. The Aboriginals were an ancient race that had lived on their own land for hundreds of years. They had already set up a harmonious society, a society that held boundaries and rules. Then the British arrived, travel-worn but curious. But when they saw the dark-skinned natives, thought themselves superior. They thought that the natives’ customs, such as not wearing clothing on top and killing for revenge, were unrefined and barbaric. The British had conquered many lands before, so when Captain James Cook claimed the land for England, they thought that the land was all theirs. They started building on the land, not even bothering to ask the natives for permission. They viewed the natives, who worshipped animal deities and lived in the woods, as animals to be tamed. Animals weren’t asked for permission to build on their land. So the British kept arriving on ships and settling in Australia. But when the natives try to do something about it, they are killed and their rebellions squashed.