Goldrush and non-European experiences

Goldrush and Experiences of non-Europeans

Grade 9 - Making a nation
History

• Apply previous knowledge and explain the treatment of non-Europeans.

Success Criteria

Gain an understanding of the Australian Gold rushes and experiences of non-Europeans

Focus

Expectations

Word Cloud

Brain Jog: what is gold?

Fill in the Blanks

The most significant influence on the economic and social development of the Australian colonies in the 19th century was the discovery of

Fill in the Blanks

Gold tripled the population of the colonies and made

(which capital city) one of the richest cities in the British Empire.

Multiple Choice

Gold also helped lay the foundations of the democratic nation that would later be established in ..............................

• 1901

• 1850

• 1750

• 1788

Poll

However, the gold rushes in New South Wales and Victoria also strengthened the belief in white superiority that had influenced the colonies since they were first settled.

• True

• False

Fill in the Blanks

The movement of thousands of people into the inland goldfields led to further

of the Indigenous people from their traditional lands.

Fill in the Blanks

Gold seekers from China also faced discrimination and

from European settlers.

Multiple Select

Gold was first discovered in the ................................ colonies from around 1823. The amounts discovered, however, were quite small and were all on .............................................. land. This meant that the gold should have been .......................................... to the governor, so the finds were not usually reported.

• Australian

• government-owned

• surrendered

• kept

Fill in the Blanks

In April 1851, Edward Hargraves claimed correctly that ‘payable’ gold (gold on

land) had been discovered near Bathurst.

Poll

The New South Wales government rewarded his discovery with £10 000 (pounds). Hargraves immediately announced his find to the newspapers, and with this the Australian gold rushes began.

• True

• False

Fill in the Blanks

Shortly after, gold discoveries were announced in Victoria. By the end of 1851, 20 000 prospectors (known as

) were working on the goldfields in Ballarat, Bendigo and elsewhere. Over the coming years, around half the male population of Melbourne and Adelaide left for the Victorian goldfields.

Fill in the Blanks

The first immigrant ships carrying would-be goldminers arrived in 1852. By 1858, 150 000 people were living on the Victorian goldfields. In total, the gold rushes in New South Wales and Victoria brought around 622 000 people to

in the 10 years after 1851.

Multiple Select

Diggers on the goldfields were looking for two main types of gold – ................................ gold and ....................... gold.

• alluvial

• opal

• deep reef

• amethyst

Multiple Choice

Alluvial gold was a type of gold that washed up in ...................................... beds, from underground streams. It was the easiest for most miners to find, and searching for it did not require much equipment.

• Gold extracted from deep underground mines
• Gold washed up in creek and river beds from underground streams
• Gold found on mountain peaks
• Gold formed from volcanic eruptions

Fill in the Blanks

By about 1853, much of the alluvial gold had been found and miners turned their attention to the

reef gold buried many metres below the surface.

Fill in the Blanks

To access deep reef gold, mines had to be sunk deep underground. Expensive machinery and complex processes (such as

) were needed to separate the gold from the quartz rock in which it was trapped.

Multiple Select

Living ................................ were hard for everyone on the goldfields. In places like Bendigo, for example, around 40 000 people lived close ....................................... in tents. Water and fresh food were scarce and sanitation was very .........................

• conditions

• good

• together

• poor

Poll

Children under the age of five made up a majority of deaths on the goldfields. Many women died in childbirth from a lack of sanitation and medical care.

• True

• False

Fill in the Blanks

For most Chinese, the main motivation for making the long journey to Australia was the search for gold. During the 1850s Australia was known to the Chinese as Xin Jin Shan (‘New

of Gold’). Many Chinese immigrants were also political refugees who left China following a bloody civil war that raged across China between 1850 and 1864

Multiple Select

The main reasons for anti-Chinese feeling among Europeans included:

• racism

• fear of being overrun

• jealousy

• suspicion of an unfamiliar culture

Poll

Resentment and anger towards the Chinese community flared into violence on a number of occasions. From 1855 onwards, colonial governments in Victoria and South Australia started passing anti-Chinese legislation.

• True

• False

Fill in the Blanks

By the 1870s, the focus of goldmining had moved to Queensland. The decline in alluvial

mining saw many Chinese people return home, though a small community remained. Some moved on and set up new businesses such as restaurants, trading companies and shops, while others became market gardeners.

Multiple Select

What other groups of people came to Australia for gold?

• Japanese

• South Sea Islanders

• The Afghans

• Americans

Brain Wrap: Discussion

Why were the Europeans so against other groups?
Why were the gold rushes so important to Australia?
Did the Eureka Stockade make a difference to gold mining?