New Arrivals
News soon spread around the world and ships full of hopeful immigrants sailed into Melbourne and Sydney in search of their fortune.
By late 1851, people came from Britain, North America, Ireland, Germany, France, Switzerland, and Italy and many other countries. In 1854, thousands of Chinese began to arrive and increased the population substantially. Conflicts Not every one got along though ,for instance, Aboriginal groups were driven off their land by the rush for gold, diggers ruined the land and scared off the native animals that the Aboriginals hunted for food and some miners disliked the Chinese because they were different. Racism The Chinese gold miners were very hardworking and their camps were very organised. Many sifted through leftover mounds of soil, called slag, and often found gold that others had missed. Racism was common in the 1850’s and there was much anti-Chinese feeling ,so much so that a law was passed in order to tax every Chinese person who landed in a Victorian port. This did not work, however, and Chinese miners would get off ships in South Australia walk to the Victorian goldfields. Disease The miners also brought diseases, for example measles and influenza with them which killed thousands of indigenous people. Australia Changed Within ten years the population in Australia more than doubled. New towns and cities grew. More farming land was required to feed the diggers and their families and new industries were developed to provide building materials, furniture, clothes and food, and equipment for mines. |