What was the Eureka Stockade?
The Eureka Stockade was considered the only armed uprising in Australia’s history. It was a riotous response to the un-affordable rise on the gold mining license and rights which was at its highest point, considered to be 1 pound and 10 shillings per month.
The only armed uprising, which occurred in Eureka in 1854, was an important time for Australian History leading toward a true democracy in Australia, resulting in equality and fairness, which was considered a stem from a build-up of criticisms on the goldfields in relation to the licencing of mining permits.
The Rebellion marked a breaking point for the agitation the miners felt by British soldiers, but despite twenty two lives lost in the lead up, along with
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the battle itself, the fight for equality was won. Their demands included the abolishment of the licence and gold commission and the rights for all men to vote. The Eureka stockade is viewed now as the birthplace of the Australian political system. What was the gold mining tax? The licence and gold commission was created by the Australian colonial government.
It was a permit in which each digger was required to pay as much as one pound and ten shillings a month just for the right to dig in 1854. Miners had not been given land rights, therefore despite working on a piece of land, they could be ordered to move by the Police and Gold Commission, with the relocation miners unable to obtain any compensation for the upheavals they had faced in such an instance. The high fees were in place to help convince those who could not afford the licences to move back toward the cities and work there …show more content…
instead. Lead up to the Rebellion battle. Stemmed from a build-up of frustration and complaints on the goldfields in relation to the licencing, and lack of political representation, the miners where tired of what they believed to be unfair policing of their work, and laws that were in place they had to abide by, despite not agreeing with them for instance the possibility to be relocated at a moment’s notice also having to produce their licence when asked or be face with a fine. Since the miners thought this to be an unfair system they rallied together to fight for changes to be made. At the time, the police had the right to invade the mines and enforce the licencing laws and fine miners that did not adhere to the laws, but in late November 1854, the miners decided to take their stand against the corrupted system they found to be unjust by burning their licences and refusing to cooperate.
On the 30th November, 500 miners rallied together under the Eureka flag and elected Peter Lalor as their leader. Swearing to fight alongside each other against the military and police forces, they built their stockade and waited for the local police force and British forces to commence their attack on the Stockade.
On December 3, miners and police, reinforced by the military, clashed with one another. The miners had planned their strategy for attack and defence as carefully as they could. Still they were no match for the military and police due to the fact both were well armed. After the smoke cleared and the battle done, 125 miners were taken as prisoners, many miners badly injured and twenty two lost their lives. Only six members of the Police and military force was killed in the
fight. Poster from Bakeryhill Peter Lalor lost his arm due to the battle. The Eureka flag. “We swear by the southern cross to stand truly by each other, and defend our rights and liberties” This was the oath the miners had sworn upon the site of Eureka. Unrolled and seen for the first time in 1854 protesting against ham-fisted unelected executives, referring to the Eureka flag, the declaration was “the Australian flag shall proudly wave, a symbol of liberty.” At the time the flag was seen as a disloyal action by the officials. To this day it is still a symbol of nationalism and democracy. The symbols of this flag are: Justice used to impartially judge one another equally regardless of skin colour. No one should be judged worse than the other for the same offence or due to their position or title. Nationalism A belief that an individual stands closely and proudly with their Country, relating to the construction of patriotism supporting the states decisions and actions. Democracy in modern usage, is a system of government in which the population implementation of power directly or elect governments from among themselves to form a governing body, such as a parliament. The Eureka Flag Peter Lalor February 5th 1827- February 9, 1889 Peter was born in Ireland in the county Laois (formerly Queen’s County) He was the son of a home rule Supporter, he was trained as a civil engineer in Ireland. Lalor Migrated to Australia in 1852 following the migration due to the great Irish famine along with one of his brothers they settled in Victoria, he found work at them Melbourne-Geelong railway before going to the Eureka Gold fields in 1853. His three other brothers travelled to America. In November of 1854 he united with the Ballarat reform league that was formed by miners to protest against high costs of licences, police ill-treatment lack of representation and lack of land available, on November 30 the miners chose Lalor to lead them in an organised fight after the leagues petition fell on deaf ears by the government. Lalor was wounded during the battle and his left arm was beyond saving and had to be amputated the following day. Peter then went into hiding for several weeks following the battle to recover from his wounds, later re-emerging to the public eye to find the charges against the rebel leaders had been dropped and the majority of the miners objections where remedied. After the expansion of the Victoria Legislative Council to include representatives from the goldfields, Lalor was one of the first elected in 1855. He later served in the Legislative Assembly (lower house) in 1856–71 and 1875–87; he was first elected from the electoral district of North Grenville, then (1859) from South Grant and (1877) Grant, all of them Ballarat- and Geelong-area electorates. As a representative, he generally advocated for the miners (including compensation for the victims of the Eureka uprising) and gave political support to a national education system, the protection of local industry, and settlement. In between his divisions of service in the legislature, Lalor worked as a land agent and was a director of mining companies. He served as postmaster general (1875), commissioner of trade and customs (1875, 1877–80), and speaker of the Assembly from 1880 to 1887, a position he stepped back from when his health deteriorated. The Assembly granted him a substantial salary in recognition of his service. He passed away in office while on a health-related leave of absence from the legislature, having remained a member in agreement with the wishes of his supporters.
Immigration, transport, trade and taxes, and growing national pride were the three main reasons Australia needed to federate. Fear of coming under foreign attack, and concern over being invaded by non-white immigrants were major factors, which encouraged support to Federate. Despite the fact that several colonies already had implemented laws, which restricted immigrants from certain countries, all of the colonies were keen to strengthen their policies. In this time, there were many prejudgments against the Chinese and Pacific Islanders. The Chinese immigrated during the gold rush period, in the 1850s and from 1863; Pacific Islanders were also brought to Australia to work in the hot conditions in the sugarcane fields. People believed that foreign workers took jobs away from them.
Hatch, P. (2013, April 5). Eddie Mabo's epic fight for land rights changed Australian law and history. Retrieved from Herald Sun: http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/law-order/fight-for-land-rights-changed-history/story-fnat7jnn-1226613120932
During the Colorado Coal Strike from 1913 to 1914, one of the largest losses of life was the Ludlow Massacre, or sometimes referred to as the Battle of Ludlow, on April 20, 1914. Colorado was the epicenter for mine-related violence in the West. From 1913 to 1918, the United Mine Workers of America launched a full-scale unionization campaign by sending forty-two organizers to the Trinidad coal mine located in Ludlow, Colorado. Ludlow was the largest tent colony in Colorado and a major source of tension during the Colorado Coal Strike. Strikers were asking for better wages and pay for “dead work” (unpaid work necessary for maintaining workable conditions), an eight-hour workday, the right to elect their own checkweighmen, the right to choose what resources they buy and use, and the enforcement of the Colorado Mining Laws.
When writing the "big picture" histories, historians often overlook or exaggerate certain aspects of Australian history to make their point. Discuss with reference to one the recommended texts.
It is well known that Captain Arthur Philips landed in Australia on 26th of January and took over the land and is referred to as “invasion Day”. Yet little do people know, Captain Arthur Phillip didn’t land in Australia on 26 January. He first landed in Australia between the 18th and 20th of January 1788 in Botany Bay, however where he landed he couldn’t find fresh water so he then sailed into Sydney Cove on the 26th where he found a Tank Stream…..problem solved. Australia day today celebrates our diverse society, our remarkable achievements, our future as a nation and how we can make Australia a better
Unfortunately, with most if not all large-scale conflicts, a detrimental aftermath was soon sure to follow. Australia was by no means exempt from this, as made evident by the Australian veterans and
Nearly four decades after the events at Eureka Stockade, Henry Lawson marked the death of the battle's leader, Peter Lalor, with an anti-establishment piece of verse, 'Eureka!'. In this and other poems such as his first, 'The Republic', 'The Fight of Eureka Stockade' and 'Freedom of the Wallaby', Lawson may well have been trying to light the fire of Australian nationalism and a move to independence with our own flag, The Southern Cross.
This proved to the working class something needed to be done about the government or there would be constant revolts.
The unions resorted to many forms of tactics such as boycotts, picketing, and the less prominent “closed shop”. The most prevalent of these methods, however, was the formation of riots. During the late 19th century riots included: the Haymarket Square Riots (1886), the Homestead Lockout, and the Pullman Car Company strike. The Haymarket Square Riots of 1886 took place at the McCormick plant in Chicago, Illinois in response to the worker’s need for an eight hour workday. The first two days were innate, but the third day was where the the situation actually instigated the cause. The owner of the plant, McCormick, attempted to bring strikebreakers (scabs), and a battle had begun between the scabs and the strikers. The riot, wistfully, ended the lives of four men when the police began to attempt to impede and halter the situation. These four deaths initiated a chain reaction resulting in the calling for the revenge of the four men by German radical Johann Most. Despite Johann’s reaction, 200 more Chicago policemen ordered the remaining strikers to leave the area. In the crowd, in the moment, a homemade bomb was hurled leading in the death of one policeman; acting as a predecessor of events, this event lead to a shooting between the policemen and the strikers concluding with the death of four workers and seven more policemen; entirely approximately one hundred people were injured. The Haymarket Riots caused public opinion to turn against labor. The Homestead Lockout took place in Homestead, Pennsylvania at Andrew Carnegie’s steel plant and was instigated by Henry Clay Frick’s wage cut. In this riot workers walked out of the company and then Frick ordered company doors to be locked and trapped the workers inside. Employees rebelled and caused about 200 Pinkerton detectives to come up the river to protect company property and created a battle.
In the nineteenth century, the “History wars” became the fight between the most prominent historians revolving around the deception of frontier conflict between the labor and coalition. The debate aroused from the different interpretations of the violence that took place during the European colonization and to what degree. It became a crisis in history, emerging from the dispossession of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders (ATSI) that resulted in exclusion of their traditions and culture. The ATSI were the first people of Australia that brought along a different culture, language, kinship structures and a different way of life (Face the Facts, 2012). Post European colonization was a time where the ATSI people experienced disadvantage in the land they called home. With the paramount role as future educators, it demands proficient knowledge on the Australian history and one of the most influential moments in our history started from the first European settlers.
... a drunken brawl in downtown Toronto that was easily squashed by amateur policemen than a rebellion. In fact it is not even called a rebellion in the Canadian Encyclopedia but rather "an uprising with limited support and was largely a historical accident."
The important prelude to the Coal Strike of 1902 was the strike of 1990. This strike occurred just as the 1900 presidential elections were happening (Grossman). John Mitchell, president of the United Mine Workers called this strike into effect on September 17, 1900 (Grossman). It proved effective because he had the support of most miners. The election also helped the miners cause as it brought the strike to national attention. Political bosses took note and convinced mine owners that a strike was bad news for their party (Grossman). This allowed the strikers to get the 1...
Beckwith, Karen. "Collective Identities of Class and Gender: Working-Class Women in the Pittston Coal Strike." Political Psychology 19.1 (1998): 147-167.
were put to death. Even though the original opinion of the people about the uprising wasn’t in favor of it, after the death of the leaders they were outraged. (Coogan,”Troubles” pgs. 19-25)
The IWW started in Chicago by socialist miners and other groups that did not approve of the AF of L. The IWW was led by William D. Haywood, who had participated in Colorado mine strikes. Eugene Debs, Daniel De Leon, and Mother Jones were...