The occupation and possession of lands in the New World, required some organised approach to acquisition and priority. This led to a Doctrine of Discovery drawn up to facilitate procedure of possession and occupation of new world lands. In general, elements of moral grounds were lost in the emphasis on justification of displacing the indigenous peoples and in gaining possession of their lands. The doctrine so derived left much ambiguity and little solace or rights, including land rights, to the indigenous peoples affected.

Commencing with the Scandinavians, and later the early Portuguese and Spanish and still later the Dutch, English, French and German seafaring nations, the quest for acquisition of non European, and (with the exception of the Scandinavian element), so called non-Christian lands, became a race for supremacy.

The Scandinavians, fearsome and ruthless, thought little of their conquest consequences.

The Portuguese and the Spanish, through their respective monarchical rulers, sought the sanctity of the Lord through Papal blessing to carry out their conquests and occupation of lands “discovered” and the subjugation of their peoples.

Later Europeans, amongst others mentioned above, sought at least some form of justifications in dealing with the discovery, occupation and possession of foreign lands. Prescribed elements of doctrine were adopted by those European nations, to provide both defensible occupational and “by right” possession by the displacement and subjugation of indigenous peoples from and within their lands, as well as to provide an established procedure for priority of possession amongst themselves.

Amongst the Doctrine was the element of terra nullius. It has a meaning of empty land, or not legally belonging to anyone. Britain claimed that because they could not find any sovereignty to deal with in negotiating land sale or compensation and because there was no recognised legal process of land ownership, the same or similar to that of Europe, that terra nullius was relevant and the land free for British occupation.    

The occupation of part of New Holland by Great Britain may have been seen to provoke the Dutch into international legal challenge as to Britain’s rights to a land at least two thirds charted by themselves; named by themselves (New Holland) and according to their claims as early as 1606, as well as statements recorded by Britain’s own Captain Cook in 1770, (excluding the east coast) --- discovered by themselves.

The Dutch had prior experience in skirmishes with the aborigines and much of the coast that they had so well charted, appeared as inhospitable as its inhabitants. Whether that was enough to refrain from legal contest against British occupation or perhaps because of other reasons, I have not researched.           

The above mentioned doctrine was established along European lines of land tenure and their own ideas of civilisation and culture, with little regard if any, to those of the conquered. As you may see from the following, apart from ignorance, arrogance and greed prevailed.

Download the full document here for FREE -
Discovery, Possession and Terra nullius (PDF, 1.9MB)