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Gold first discovered
Gold was first discovered in Australian colonies from 1823, however, only in extremely small amounts and on government owned land, meaning no one could get rewarded for the discovery as the law stated that the gold belonged to the government as it was in their land. -
Gold discovered on unclaimed land
In April of 1851 Edward Hargraves discovered gold in Bathurst, on unclaimed land; meaning he could sell it for money. The NSW government payed him 10,000 pounds and so he announced his find and reward to the newspaper, initiating Australia's gold rush. -
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Immigration was extremely high
Within 10 years of the commencement of the gold rush, approximately 622,000 people immigrated to Australia -
150,000 people living on the VIC goldfields
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Idea of one united nation
During the end of the 19th century, people in different colonies begun to realise how similar they actually were; all from Britain, had similar values, laws and goals. The idea of becoming one united nation started spreading and particular individuals argued that so much could be gained from becoming one nation. -
Idea of one united nation cont.
Although Australia was already extremely well-off as women were allowed to vote, 8-hour work day was established and we had extreme wealth and strong governments - there were also a lot of negatives that arose with these. For example, due to many colonists becoming wealthy from the gold rush, house prices sky-rocketed, agricultural businesses failed due to severe droughts. This caused a nation-wide depression as many were in poverty and homeless. -
Protesting after gold rush
Due to the awful working conditions and poor pay that arose from the depression of the 1890's, people began to protest for safer working conditions, better pay and more reasonable hours. Consequently, the 8 hour work day was introduced and presented Australia as a liveable place, causing immigration to spike once more -
Key individuals in the uniting of our nation
Henry Parkes contributed immensely to the Federation of Australia, guiding the population over numerous obstacles they faced in the process. He was one of the reasons that the vast majority of the Australian population voted in favour of creating one nation. Unfortunately, Henry Parkes died before Australia's official Federation, however, without him, we may have never become one nation. -
Strict Laws
Quickly after the uniting of Australia's colonies, came a set of laws that, although most people thought were reasonable, were extremely racist. The main one being that immigration was strictly limited to white settlers, and all immigrants had to sit a difficult diction test to prove they were of European heritage. -
Federation
On the 1st of January 1901, the six British colonies that were in Australia finally united as one nation. With this brought fortune, a strong government, high immigration and a rapidly developing country.
