Only a VERY small part of the population were descended from criminals.
And .. Is it really criminal to be forced by deliberate manipulation of society by upper class twits to steal (food) to feed your starving children ?
Well, It was illegal. But That same upper class society said it was right to lock Joe Ordinary within the hull of the sinking Titanic.
Here's a thing I have personal experience of.
Before my family emigrated to Australia in the early 70's I scored 98 % in history. I was extremely good at it. When I was tested at an Australian School I scored 2 %.
You see, here in UK you learn ~ Uk & european stuff including THEIR views. In Australia you learn "Aust - Asian" history. That included the reasons for the transportation of so called "criminals"!!
England really does have a shameful past as do most "Empires".
Here's the ironic thing......
There's an awful lot of Poms would rather live in australia then stay in this [insert skanky description here] country.