Gold was discovered in 1851 by John Hargraves. He earned a very large reward for finding it. However, many people say that he did not discover the gold himself. He knew the person who discovered the gold and lied.
Soon after the discovery, there were thousands of people swarming to Baththurst, New South Wales to 'Strike it Rich'.
Then gold was discovered in Victoria and even more miners immigrated to Australia.
People came from America, England, France, Switzerland, Italy, Germany and Italy. It took months to travel to Australia by boat.
People from China also came to Australia. Many other diggers did not like the Chinese. There was a lot of racism towards the Chinese. They even had to pay a higher tax than other miners. They did not like the Chinese because the Chinese workers were very hard working, very well organized, did things differently and looked different.
Aboriginals also suffered when all of these people immigrated to Australia.
Another problem was pollution. There were too many people living together and they had no way of keeping things clean and safe. People used old holes from mines as bathrooms. They also used rivers or anywhere they could. This caused many diseases for everyone.
Miners also cut down many trees because they hoped that there was gold in the ground. This affected the animals and environment.
Soon after the discovery, there were thousands of people swarming to Baththurst, New South Wales to 'Strike it Rich'.
Then gold was discovered in Victoria and even more miners immigrated to Australia.
People came from America, England, France, Switzerland, Italy, Germany and Italy. It took months to travel to Australia by boat.
People from China also came to Australia. Many other diggers did not like the Chinese. There was a lot of racism towards the Chinese. They even had to pay a higher tax than other miners. They did not like the Chinese because the Chinese workers were very hard working, very well organized, did things differently and looked different.
Aboriginals also suffered when all of these people immigrated to Australia.
- They were pushed off there land so miners could dig.
- The mining also took away some of the Aboriginals food. New miners were killing and eating animals to live. There were not enough animals for everyone. Animals also moved away to different areas because there were too many people. This made hunting very difficult for Aboriginals.
- The new immigrants also brought diseases with them from other countries. These were new diseases to the aboriginals and their body could not fight back to get better like we do when we get a common cold. Thousands of Aboriginals died from diseases.
Another problem was pollution. There were too many people living together and they had no way of keeping things clean and safe. People used old holes from mines as bathrooms. They also used rivers or anywhere they could. This caused many diseases for everyone.
Miners also cut down many trees because they hoped that there was gold in the ground. This affected the animals and environment.