The Gold Rush

History The Gold Rush

Preview

For Upper Primary

1 Contents Discovery of Gold!...... Page 3 Gold!...... Page 4 Life on the Goldfields...... Page 5 Living on the Goldfields 1...... Page 6 Living on the Goldfields 2...... Page 7

Answers...... Page 8

Title: The Gold Rush For Upper Primary Published by Ready-Ed Publications © 2019 Taken from: Australian History Series Book 6: Australia as a Nation Author: Sharon Szczecinski Preview Illustrator: Alison Mutton

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2 student Notes

Discovery of Gold!

The era of gold discoveries in Australia encouraged many people to migrate to Australia.

The period of the great Australian gold rushes did not begin until 1851, however gold was discovered long before this. People were aware of the lure of gold and the effect it might have. In the same year that the First Fleet arrived a convict named James Daley reported finding gold in the hope of being sent home to England. Unfortunately Daley made up the story and was rewarded instead with 300 lashes. Thirty five years later, in 1823, the first genuine discovery was made by a surveyor named James McBrien who found gold near Bathurst. Other discoveries were made in 1839, 1841 and 1848 before the beginning of the Australian gold rushes in 1851, with the discovery of gold near Bathurst in New South Wales. Historians believe the gold rushes did not start until 1851 for a number of possible reasons, including the authorities keeping the news secret and the fact that any gold found belonged to the government. The Start of the Rush Edward Hargraves worked on the Californian goldfields. He has always been given the credit for finding gold in Australia. Historians, however, often debate whether Hargraves should be given this honour and the discovery of gold is a good example of conflicting historical evidence. Some sources suggest that Hargraves found gold at a place near Bathurst that he named Ophir. These sources maintain that Hargraves was able to find this gold because he knew where to look, after learning the technique in the USA. Other sources, however, believe it was not Hargraves at all who found gold but his assistants John Lister, James Tom and William Tom. Alternative sources even claim that Hargraves did not mentionPreview the people who had helped him. There also exists historical sources which state that Hargraves was not trying to find a large goldfield but just wanted to claim the government reward. Regardless of who was really responsible for the discovery of gold, Hargraves claimed the reward of more than 10,000 pounds and also received a pension of 250 pounds each year, a meeting with Queen Victoria and the right to be called the Commissioner for Crown Lands. The news of the discovery of gold swept through the colony like wildfire and within a few weeks 600 men had flocked to Summer Hill Creek in Ophir to try to make their fortune. Gold was later discovered in Victoria, Western Australia and Queensland.

3 Activity Gold!

Read page 3, then complete this activity page. In order to understand the events surrounding the gold rush era in Australia, it is useful to put yourself in the position of the main historical figures involved. TT Imagine that you are Edward Hargraves and you have just discovered gold. Tweet (text- based post of up to 140 characters) on Twitter to announce your discovery.

Twitter Search

Name: Edward Hargraves

Tweet:______

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TT Now imagine that you are John Lister (Hargraves’ partner). You are enraged that you are not getting any credit for your hard work. Post your own account of what happened on your Facebook page.

Facebook Search

Name: John Lister Wall Post:______Preview ______

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Use the back of this page to write a diary entry from the point of view of a Extra migrant who has moved to Australia because of the discovery of gold.

4 student Notes Life on the Goldfields

As news of the gold discoveries were made public, gold fever struck and dramatically changed Australian society. Australians from all colonies became crazy about gold, leaving their jobs and rushing to make their fortune on the goldfields. Word even spread overseas and Australia, previously perceived as an unattractive place to live, became a very popular destination for many to settle. Gold Digging, National Library of Australia The effect on Australia was immediate. 500,000 migrants poured into Australia by sea and those already in Australia went overland to the diggings. By the end of the decade the population had trebled. For the gold miners on the early Australian goldfields, living conditions were tough. Miners, and often their families, had to live in the heat in temporary accommodation such as tents, with minimal supplies of food and water. Most miners were inexperienced and had limited tools and equipment. As new discoveries of gold were made, miners often packed up their few belongings and headed to the next place to try their luck. The discovery of gold attracted many new migrants to Australia. Most of these new arrivals were British but also included Americans, French, Italian, German, Polish and Hungarians. The largest number of people from overseas were the 40,000 Chinese who came to work on the fields mostly for foreign businessmen. The Chinese were disliked by other miners for a number of reasons (essentially because they were different). Miners did not like the fact that the Chinese miners worked on Sundays, that they dressed differently, did not speak English, had different customs, sent most of their gold back to China, used more water in their mining of the gold and often worked on ‘tailings’ or ground that had been worked and then abandoned by other miners. The PreviewEuropean miners also claimed that the Chinese were addicted to opium and gambling and spread diseases. European diggers often did not trust or understand the Chinese diggers. During this time racist attitudes, the belief that some Miners' Accommodation people are better than others, began to surface.

We consider the Chinese very They are obviously an inferior race but unsuitable as immigrants. As they manage to find gold! We give up Christians we hate them working on on a claim and they rummage around the holy Sabbath (Sunday) and we are and find more. It is all very suspicious. concerned that they gamble a great We are calling a meeting to establish a deal and are not very peaceful. plan of action.

Source 1 Source 2

5 Activity Living on the Goldfields 1

Read page 5, then complete the QUESTIONS below.

1. How did the discovery of gold change Australian society?

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2. In your own words describe what it would have been like to live on the goldfields.

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3. How would Europeans have seen the Chinese as different from themselves?

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4. What do the sources say about the nature of Chinese people on the goldfields? Who do you think they are written by? What type of sources are they?

Source 1:______

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______Source 2:______Preview ______

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5. What effect do you think the arrival of the Chinese on the goldfields would have had on Australian society?

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6 Activity Living on the Goldfields 2

Use all of the information that you have learnt about the gold rush period in Australia, and do some of your own research, to complete the task below. TT Imagine that you are a historian wanting to find out about how the discovery of gold developed Australia into a diverse country. Design or locate three sources of evidence that would be useful to you. For example, you might find/create a government report that shows the increase in the number of people who came to Australia or a picture that shows the Chinese on the goldfields. Write, draw or paste your sources in the spaces below.

Source 1

Source 2 Preview

Source 3

7 Answers

Page 6 1) The population of Australia grew and became multicultural and racial tension ensued. People already living in Australia left their jobs in search of gold. 2) Tough because there was limited supplies of food, water and equipment. It also would have been hot. 3) They would have seen the Chinese as physically and culturally different than themselves. Physically because they were not white and wore different clothes and culturally because they did not speak English, worked on Sundays, sent their gold back to China, used more water when mining and worked on ‘tailings’. 4) Both sources seem to be written from a white Australian or white migrant’s perspective and they are primary sources as they have been written at the time of the incident that they are describing. Source 1 describes the Chinese as inappropriate migrants, unchristian, rowdy and as gamblers. Source 2 describes them as people whose methods of finding gold were unethical. 5) The arrival of the Chinese on the goldfields changed Australia because it created racial tensions between the Chinese and the non-Chinese. The practice of segregating people because of physical and cultural differences would have emerged.

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