Editing Rum Rebellion (section)

===Arrival in Sydney===
[[File:Portrait of William Bligh.jpg|thumb|upright|left|[[William Bligh]]]]
Soon after his arrival at Sydney, in August 1806, Bligh was given an address of welcome signed by [[Major (United Kingdom)|Major]] [[George Johnston (British Marines officer)|George Johnston]] for the military, by Richard Atkins for the civilian officers, and by [[John Macarthur (wool pioneer)|John Macarthur]] for the free settlers. However, not long after, Bligh also received addresses from the free and freed settlers of Sydney and the [[Hawkesbury River]] region, with a total of 369 signatures, many made only with a cross, complaining that Macarthur did not represent them. They blamed him for withholding sheep so as to raise the price of [[mutton]].<ref name="Ritchie, p. 102"/>

One of Bligh's first actions was to use the colony's stores and herds to provide relief to farmers who had been severely affected by flooding on the Hawkesbury River, a situation that had disrupted the [[barter|barter economy]] in the colony. Supplies were divided according to those most in need, and provisions were made for loans to be drawn from the store based on capacity to repay. This earned Bligh the gratitude of the farmers, but the enmity of traders in the Corps who had been profiting greatly from the situation.<ref name="AustEncI"/>

Under instructions from the [[Colonial Office]], Bligh attempted to normalise trading conditions in the colony by prohibiting the use of [[liquor|spirits]] as payment for commodities. He communicated his policy to the Colonial Office in 1807, with the advice that his policy would be met with resistance. On 31 December 1807 [[Robert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh]], [[Secretary of State for War and the Colonies]], wrote back to Bligh with instructions to stop the barter of spirits.

[[File:Thomas Watling View of Sydney.jpg|thumb|Painting of Sydney, c. 1799]]
[[H. V. Evatt]] concludes in his history of the Rebellion that Bligh "was authorised to prevent free importation, to preserve the trade under his entire control, to enforce all penalties against illegal import, and to establish regulations at his discretion for the sale of spirits".<ref>Evatt, pp. 88–9</ref> He argues that the enmity of the monopolists within the colony stemmed from this prohibition and other policies which counteracted the power of the rich and promoted the welfare of the poor settlers. Bligh ceased the practice of handing out large land grants to the powerful in the colony; during his term, he granted just over 1,600 hectares of land, half of it to his daughter and himself.<ref name="DuffySMH"/>

Bligh also caused controversy by allowing a group of Irish convicts to be tried for revolt by a court that included their accusers. But when six of the eight were acquitted, he ordered them kept under arrest anyway.<ref name="AustEncI"/> He dismissed [[D'Arcy Wentworth]] from his position of Assistant Surgeon to the Colony without explanation, and sentenced three merchants to a month's imprisonment and a fine for writing a letter that he considered offensive.<ref name="Ritchie, pp. 106-110">Ritchie, pp. 106–110</ref> Bligh also dismissed [[Thomas Jamison]] from the [[magistrate|magistracy]],<ref name="BiogEA">{{cite web | url=http://bendigolive.com/australia/m/macarthur2.htm | title=John Macarthur (1767–1834), pioneer and founder of the wool industry | work=The Biography of Early Australia | publisher=bendigolive.com | access-date=2010-01-19 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090927105433/http://bendigolive.com/australia/m/macarthur2.htm | archive-date=27 September 2009}}</ref> describing him in 1807 as being "inimical" to good government. Jamison was the highly capable (if crafty) Surgeon-General of New South Wales, and had accumulated significant personal wealth as a maritime trader; he was also a friend and business partner of the powerful Macarthur.

In October 1807 Major Johnston wrote a formal letter of complaint to the [[Commander-in-Chief of the Forces|Commander-in-Chief of the British Army]], stating that Bligh was abusive and interfering with the troops of the New South Wales Corps.<ref>''The Australian Encyclopaedia Vol.I'', p 686</ref> Bligh had clearly made enemies of some of the most influential people in the colony. He also antagonised some of the less wealthy when he ordered those who had leases on government land within Sydney to remove their houses.<ref name="Ritchie, pp. 106-110"/>