Take a look in the Christopher Brennan Library for books that will supplement your learning and understanding of the Making a Nation unit.
Sir Henry Parkes by
Sir Henry Parkes: Father of Federation, Premier of NSW, Statesman, Visionary, Political Leader, Poet, Humanist May 27, 2015 brings the 200th anniversary of the birth of Sir Henry Parkes. After he died, the London Times described him as 'a colonial colossus.
Edmund Barton by
This is how an easy-going Sydney politician, with a reputation for enjoying the pleasures of the table and a fondness for cricket, became possessed by an enduring passion to a make a new country from a collection of British colonies, and became Australia's first prime minister.
The Making of Australia by
n this riveting, wide-ranging history, David Hill traces how this happened through the key figures who built this country into the thriving nation it is today: from its prescient and fair-minded first governor, Arthur Phillip, to the unpopular William Bligh, the victim of the country's first and only military coup; from the visionary builder and law-maker Lachlan Macquarie to William Wentworth, the son of a convict who secured Australia's first elected parliament; from Henry Parkes, the grand old man of politics who started the fraught process of Federation, to the first prime minister, Edmund Barton.
The Story of Australia's People by 
The following entries are from Australian Dictionary of Biography on:
Listen here to a discussion about Parkes' Tenterfield Oration from ABC Splash.
Australian History Timeline is a multilayered website featuring an interactive historical timeline of Australia divided in to decades.
Colonisation This weblink by Australians Together discusses the impact of colonisation on Indigenous Australians.
Our Shared History This weblink by Reconciliation Australia presents the shared history of Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Australians, being 60 000 years ago, before contact.
Convicts and British colonies in Australia This weblink by the Australian Government presents information about convicts, their experiences, and transportation to others areas throughout Australia. At the bottom of the page are links to further relevant information.
Convict Life in The Rocks, Sydney Discover what life was like for convicts arriving in Australia in this audiofile by ABC Splash.
The Changing Face of Early Australia This weblink by the Australian Government covers content on Australia's population prior to Federation, Indigenous Australians and social life and culture.
Getting to Market This entry by The State Library of NSW is about transporting and selling produce at markets in Australia in the 19th and 20th centuries.
Milestones in Australian Democracy The weblink by the Museum of Australian Democracy presents a timeline from 1770 of democratic ideas, laws and institutions.
Australian Parliamentary Timeline This weblink by Parliamentary Education Office presents a timeline of Australian Parliament. There is a link to a closer look of a more detailed account of the history of Australian Parliament. There is also a link to the first Parliament of Australia.
Federation Fast Facts This weblink on the Civics and Citizenship Education website provides a summary of the debate for and against federation.
Federation This weblink to the Australian Government's website provides an overview of federation. Follow the links at the bottom of the page to further information on federation.
Records of the Australasian Federal Conventions of the 1890s This weblink on the Parliament of Australia website provides access to documents in the debates of the Australasian Federation Conference, 1890; National Australasian Convention, 1891 and Australasian Federation Convention, 1897/8. They are reported to be the most significant founding documents of the Australian nation.
Discovering Democracy: the road to federation This resource by Scootle details the events that lead to Federation.
Discovering democracy: the people choose This interactive resource by Scootle explores the roles different groups of people played in the Federation process. It also explores the different conventions held to devises the constitution and the role of the Australian people in accepting the constitution.