How did the gold rushes change colonial Australia

How did the gold rushes change colonial Australia In the history of nations that throve on the territories of North America and Australia, the nineteenth century is marked by a series of gold rushes that forever changed the ways of development in economical as well as political and social spheres.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on How did the gold rushes change colonial Australia? specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Although in Australia minor gold deposits had been discovered already in early nineteenth century, it was only in the 1850s that mass hysteria and search for gold started, acquiring the name of the Victorian gold rush, after the state most abundant in gold. The events connected with the Victorian gold rush transformed colonial Australia by dramatically increasing its population, restructuring the economic system, and promoting a new sense of identity among the nation. The first and the most obvious transformation Australia underwent as a result of the 1850s g old rush was the immense growth of the population quantity due to immigration rates. Rumors of Australian gold spread in the twinkling of an eye, and the white Australian population which had comprised only 77 thousand people before 1851, rapidly increased by over 370 thousand in only the first year of the rush and constituted 540 thousand people by 1854 (Gold Oz, n. d.). More settlers arrived to Australia in the several beginning years of the Victorian gold rush than there were prisoners brought to the continent from Britain. By the year 1871, Australian population had trebled from 430,000 in 1851 to 1.7 million in 1871 (Australian Government Culture Portal, 2007). Such dramatic increase in population quantity had its consequences both for the economic and political life of Australia. Large-scale immigration brought about the ever-growing need of Australian population for developing agriculture, manufacturing, and construction industries. On the other hand, those industries faced h ard times due to the fact that laborers fled to the areas where gold was discovered and thus left their work unattended. Agriculture was in fact one of the spheres most negatively affected by the events of the Victorian gold rush. For one thing, tillers inspired by perspectives of fast enrichment, left their farms behind, abandoning the land for the sake of gold mining. Other farmers switched their production from wheat to meat and tallow, which were more in demand in the domestic market (Attard, 2008). For another thing, sheep wool which had been Australia’s major export product in the first half of the nineteenth century, was replaced by gold, since the latter appeared a more attractive and valuable source of enrichment for the British Empire (Attard, 2008).Advertising Looking for essay on history? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More In reply to the incredible wealth shipped by Australia, the country profited fr om a large amount of imports and business investment to it (Gold Oz, n. d.). The two major states where the largest deposits of gold had been discovered, Victoria and New South Wales enjoyed an improved system of transportation with the building of the first railroad, and the rudimentary mining techniques were quickly optimized to more modern capital-intensive forms of gold-mining by large companies (Cultural Heritage Unit, 2010). Together with economic benefits, Australian gold rush brought about a number of serious developmental issues to the country. With the land overcrowded by hundreds of thousands of new migrants, it was vital to provide people with appropriate living conditions. For this purpose, large-scale building projects were launched that satisfied the need for housing for the generation of the gold-diggers and their children later on, in the 1880s. The impulse in technology given by the Victorian gold rush of the 1850s helped Australia survive the severe economic depre ssion of the late nineteenth century (Attard, 2008). Simultaneously with economic development, population expansion during the gold rush inspired major social and political changes in the nineteenth-century Australia. The people who arrived to the country were no more exclusively criminals. Rather, the colony was seen as a land of new opportunities, and therefore the practice of providing criminals with a free ticket to wealth was ceased. Not only the British, but also German, French, Italian, and even American people came to seek luck in the gold mines of Australia (Gold Oz, n. d.). This turned the country into a multinational ‘melting pot’ distinguished by diversity of men united by a common ambitious idea of coining their own happiness. Huge masses of people demanded new way of organization and government that would correspond to the newly-arisen sense of being in control of their own destiny and building a self-governed democratic state. Principles of fair treatment and camaraderie led the new Australians to forming small mining clans which in the 1852 Eureka Stockade won the case against unfair mining licensing system. Two years later, another major rebellion resulted in giving the right to vote to the miners, providing more opportunities for buying land, and reforming the administration of goldfields (Gold Oz, n.d.). These events marked the birth of Australian democracy. Australian gold rush of the nineteenth century proved to provide a major impulse for developments both in economic and social spheres of the country. The drastic increase in population caused by mass immigration of the 1850s spurred not only technological innovations but also the establishments of democracy in the land that is now known for unprecedented cooperation and mutual support among its citizens.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on How did the gold rushes change colonial Australia? specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn Mo re Reference List Attard, Bernard. 2008. â€Å"The Economic History of Australia from 1788: An Introduction†. EH.Net Encyclopedia, edited by Robert Whaples. Web. Australian Government Culture Portal. 2007. The Australian Gold Rush. Web. Cultural Heritage Unit. 2010. Electronic Encyclopedia of Gold in Australia. Web. Gold Oz. n. d. The History of Gold in Australia. Web.

Chinese New Year and the Kitchen God

Chinese New Year and the Kitchen God The Kitchen God is assigned by Yu Huang, the emperor of heaven, to watch over each family and record what they do throughout the year. A paper picture of the Kitchen God is hung in a prominent location in the kitchen. Each year during Chinese New Year, the Kitchen God returns to heaven to report on what the family has done throughout the year. The family has a thank you dinner in which a bowl of sticky rice is placed in front of the Kitchen God. It is believed that if the Kitchen God’s mouth is full of glutinous rice, he will not be able to speak about the family’s activities. Others give glutinous rice balls served in sugar soup and brown sugar bars as a bribe for the Kitchen God to say favorable things about the family. After the thank you dinner, the picture of the Kitchen God is burned and thereby sent back to heaven. A new picture of the Kitchen God is hung in the kitchen after the start of Chinese New Year festivities.