The Gold Rush - An Introduction

The Gold Rush - An Introduction

Mr. TrotterYear 9 History

When?

In 1851, Edward Hargraves found gold.

The Rush was on!

How did it affect Australia?

The ‘mateship’ (friendship) that developed between diggers on the goldfields is still

important to how we (and others) think of ourselves as Australians.

Was the rush as good as it seemed?

Although we know of the gold rush as a prosperous time when poor people had the chance to get rich, this story overlooks some important things:

• Filthy living conditions• Greed and selfishness• Crime• Racism

The gold industry was booming!

In 1852, 26.4 tonnes of gold was found in New South Wales alone!

More than this truck

Stay in Victoria, gold diggers!

The Victorian government, eager to stop its diggers from joining the gold frenzy in NSW, offered a reward of £200 for any gold found within 200 miles of Melbourne.

One state alone…

South Australia was the only state in Australia not to produce gold.

The population grows

In 1852 alone, 370,000 immigrants arrived in Australia and the economy of the nation boomed.

In the 20 years between 1851 and 1871, Australia’s population grew from 430,000 to 1.7 million!

Problems with multiculturalism

Australia attracted people from all around the world. Most of these new arrivals were British but also included Americans, French, Italian, German, Polish and Hungarian. The largest population of immigrants on the goldfields was the 40,000 Chinese who made their way to Australia.

Problems with multiculturalism on the goldfields

Many people tried to get the Chinese on the goldfields to leave. They did this because of fear of competition for the slowly dwindling amount of gold, because the Chinese were very good workers.

Gold Licensing Fees

When diggers came to the goldfields, they had to pay a license fee to rent the land from the authorities. This fee cost 30 shillings a month for a small amount of land called a ‘claim’.

‘Fox Hunts’

When a digger hadn’t paid his license fee for his land, he could be fined £5 for his first offence.

Police would go on ‘Fox Hunts’, looking for diggers who had not paid their licensing fees and arresting them.

See page 60-61 of your textbook for more information, and answer questions 1-4.