The Gold Rush was a major turning point in Australian colonial history. The Gold Rush led to a rapid increase in population, economic growth and the hastening of a democratic government. All this made Australia the country we know today.
The Gold Rush had brought many people into the country. The population trebled between 1850 and 1861. In 1852 alone, 370,000 immigrants arrived in Australia taking the population from around 300,000 to 700,000. As a result, conflict between different races emerged. The worst affected being the Chinese. The Chinese had always been the outcast on the diggings, the reason being that the Chinese had different ways to the British. But this is what made Australia known for its multiculturalism and high immigration
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When the lucky diggers spent their money, people could start making profits and produce more. This made the Australian economy to thrive. Additionally, this was caused because of the huge influx of money pouring into the country. Victoria had contributed around one third of the world's gold output in the 1850's. As a result there were a lot of people becoming rich. Miner's weren't the only ones profiting from the Gold Rush though. Industries were established to serve the miners and employment opportunities were abundant meaning industries also benefitted from the economic boom. With more money out there, more grander buildings could be built. More schools were also built. The living standards were raised. But questions were being asked about the rights of the people living in this growing country. This leads to show how the gold rush changed the way the democratic government is run today. The miners were pursuing the government for more rights and for a fair world. The rights they were fighting for included the demolition of the miners license and the right for all men to vote. They started rebellions; the most famous being the Eureka Stockade, protests, unions formed to pressure governments even more. The Eureka Stockade formed a basis for
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.
The book "The Australian Legend", written by Russell Ward and published in 1958 speaks mainly of "Australian Identity". It looks at nationalism and what has formed our self-image. There are many aspects that are left overlooked however, as the Authour makes his assumptions. Significant parts of society are neglected consideration, these include those that weren't from the bush, non-British immigrants, the Aboriginal people and women. Also the use of romanticised and exaggerated evidence causes an imbalance in his conclusions.
Over the five years following the war, about 171,000 immigrants came to Australia. The government introduced the assisted passage scheme which gave immigrants temporary accommodation in Australia in exchange for two years of labour. Most immigrants came from places such as Poland, Yugoslavia and the Baltic States and then later Germany, Grease, Italy and Malta. The immigrant families were placed in old army barracks in severely poor conditions, and exposed to racial discrimination. They were often referred to with names such as ‘wogs’, ‘bolt’ and’ reffo’. Families were separated. Men were sent off to work on things such as t...
People now had the chance to look for gold out west and the Gold Rush began. This is when America really had its boom. Lastly, we now have twice as much, if not more, natural resources than we had before.
There were mixed feelings with the end of Victoria’s reign. At the time Australian culture still revolved around Britain and most Australian’s were either born in Britain, or had relatives residing there.
The Gilded Age was a period of economic growth as the United States jumped to the lead in industrialization ahead of Britain. Though there were many new inventions during the era of the Gilded Age, the most important one the the creation of the transcontinental railway. In 1869, the First Transcontinental Railroad opened up the western mining and farming regions. It was helpful to the immigrants because it allowed more immigrants to come into the country. I think thar there was many inventors of this time, but I think that Thomas Edison was one of the most influential inventors because he developed many devices that greatly influenced life around the world, including the phonograph, the
Primarily, the gold rush was very beneficial because it colonized open land. The gold rush attracted many, “miners and adventurers from across the nation” (Gillon 2). This helped instigate the prosper of the western side of the USA because it was mostly not settled. The vast pieces of land were a waste because they were unused. This was quickly stopped due to the gold rush. Clearly, the gold rush was profitable because it led to the colonization of the unused land.
It was the determination of so many to get to California just to have an opportunity of obtaining a better life. The dream to acquire wealth in a matter of months became a reality for some, and a dream for others. The Gold Rush had a major impact on California economically, demographically, and socially, ultimately affecting the whole world. Thousands of immigrants came to America because of gold, boosting the country’s economy. The Gold Rush did wonders to the US economy, people went out and spent more money once the “struck it rich” making merchants richer who would buy from others to be able to supply the need. Even though only a small amount of people got rich from the gold the wealth spread a crossed the country and helped the US economy be what it is today. It smoothed the way for California to be the most thriving and diverse state in the union. California has the highest population in the United States. San Francisco is what it is today because it was the main port for people coming from other countries. If the Gold Rush never happened this might not be the case. Without the gold rush history as we know it today, would have been
During the post gold rush and pre gold rush (1847) similarities reminded the same. For example, the main way of transportation was by boat.
This caused people to think that Australia was going to be invaded and so they fled. Disorder and panic was happening so those left behind started loot! An interesting fact was that many Southern Australians were shielded from the facts by censorship and the distance of Darwin. The censorship was put in place to stop people thinking that the war was bad and invasion was possible. The government didn't want people to panic.
However, Brands does not limit himself to just recounting the adventures in the gold fields.... ... middle of paper ... ... Nonetheless, the California Gold Rush brought thousands of people across the United States to the West and started a new era where opportunities and dreams developed. In fact, roads, schools and new towns were built throughout California as a result of the gold rush boom.
It was known in history as the land boom which was fuelled by wealth that had been created during earlier gold rushes (Peacock, C 2010). Out of all the Australian cities, it was Melbourne which had the most success from the wealth brought by gold and the influx of immigrants (Brown May & Swain 2005). Michael Cannon states that Melbourne was made rich by gold and populous by the immigrants who sought it (Cannon, M 1966). Immigrants came to Australia in the hope of making a fortune, whether from gold discoveries or in new businesses. During the 1880’s population growth was more than three times the expected level of natural increase indicating large-scale in-migration to the city (McCarty, J.W., and C.B. Schedvin 1978). The gold rush in 1850’s had many people flocking to Australia and mainly Victoria in hope that they would find a small fortune. This resulted in a population explosion. The fortune from this decade had enabled people to purchase land with their wealth. The increased population resulting from the gold rush resulted in a high demand for land causing the price of property to rise to amounts never experienced by Melburnians. Not only was the wealth used to buy land but the Victorian government was able to use the money to further develop Melbourne’s railway with stations reaching the lengths from the inner and outer suburbs of
The Australian Gold Rush was disastrous for people coming from different countries. The main focus of this essay is to argue that the Australian Gold Rush was a tragedy for immigrants. Oversea immigrants had to suffer intense racism and pay taxes that no else had to pay. Immigrants also had to dig in fields that have already been dug in.
The first settlers arrived in Australia 35,000 years ago during the great ice age. The sea levels lowered between Indonesia and New Guinea and created a land bridge that would allow nomadic tribes to cross from Southeast Asia. Like many other humans of that era they were hunters and gatherers and traveled from place to place in search of new game. Thousands of years after these drifters arrived; the glaciers thawed and raised the seas once again, which kept the people of Australia permanently there.
Cheap British coal created the opportunity to improve the efficiency in production, faster infrastructure (railroads, steamboats) and made it so that Britain had a solid source of income.