Some of the Chinese people died by drowning in the river or getting lost after escaping into the bush. The Chinese diggers rallied in protest against the poll tax by forming the 'United Confederacy of Chinese' on the Ovens, Bendigo, Castlemaine and Ballarat goldfields.
In , their protest came to a head when several thousand Chinese people marched in protest in Castlemaine, where they presented a petition to the Victorian Government that contained many thousands of signatures of support for the cause. Enter search keywords. Home Decade timeline s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s Before Time Teaching activities Themes Family and community Lifestyle Technologies Behind the scenes The series The book Awards Clips bank Stills gallery.
Home Decade timeline s Australia in the s. Decade summary History and politics Society and culture Science and technology. Anti-Chinese sentiment In the early s, many Chinese immigrants came to Australia as indentured labourers working as shepherds, rural labourers, cooks and gardeners. Another circumstance which contributed to the heavy influx of Chinese was the fact that news of the gold discovery found southeastern China in poverty and ruin caused by the Taiping rebellion.
Masters of vessels made the most of this coincidence of favorable circumstances. They distributed in all the Chinese ports, placards, maps and pamphlets with highly colored accounts of the golden hills of California.
The fever spread among the yellow men as it did among others, and the ship-men reaped a harvest from passage money. Probably the most conspicuous characteristic of the Chinese is their passion for work. The Chinaman seemingly must work. If he cannot secure work at a high wage he will take it at a low wage, but he is a good bargainer for his labor and only needs the opportunity to ask for more pay.
This is true of the whole nation, from the lowest to the highest. They lack inventiveness and initiative but have an enormous capacity for imitation. With proper instruction their industrial adaptability is very great. They learn what they are shown with almost incredible facility, and soon become adept. Here were cooks, laundrymen, and servants ready and willing. Just what early California civilization most wanted these men could and would supply. The result was that the Chinaman was welcomed; he was considered quite indispensable.
He was in demand as a laborer, as a carpenter, as a cook; the restaurants which he established were well patronized; his agricultural endeavors in draining and tilling the rich tule lands were praised. The Chinese took a prominent part in the parades in celebration of the admission of the state to the Union. The Chinese were surely in a land of milk and honey. They had left a land of war and starvation where work could not be had and food must be begged and here they found themselves in the midst of work and plenty.
They were everywhere welcomed and their wages were such that they could save a substantial part to send back to the families they had left at home in China; or, if they did not wish to labor for masters, they could go to the mines. Here they could take an old claim which had been abandoned by the white miner and dig from it gold dust which to them represented wealth untold.
They were careful not to antagonise these whites by prospecting ahead of them, and in return they received the same treatment in the mining districts that they had met with in San Francisco. The Chinaman was welcomed as long as the surface gold was plentiful enough to make rich all who came. But that happy situation was not long to continue.
Thousands of Americans came flocking in to the mines. Rich surface claims soon became exhausted. These newcomers did not find it so easy as their predecessors had done to amass large fortunes in a few days.
California did not fulfil the promise of the golden tales that had been told of her. These gold-seekers were disappointed. In the bitterness of their disappointment they turned upon the men of other races who were working side by side with them and accused them of stealing their wealth. From the beginning, though well received, the Chinese had been a race apart. Their peculiar dress and pigtail marked them off from the rest of the population.
Their camps at the mines were always apart from the main camps of white miners. This made it the easier to turn upon them this hatred of outsiders. With the great inrush of gold-seekers the abandoned claims which the Chinese had been working, again became desirable to the whites and the Chinese were driven from them with small concern. Where might made right the peaceable Chinaman had little chance. This imposed a tax of twenty dollars a month on all foreign miners.
Instead of bringing into the state treasury the revenue promised by its framers, this law had the effect of depopulating some camps and of seriously injuring all of them. San Francisco became overrun with penniless foreigners and their care became a serious problem.
The law was conceded to be a failure and was repealed the following year. By the time this was done, however, the Chinese had become the most conspicuous body of foreigners in the country and therefore had to bear the brunt of the attacks upon the foreign element.
A weak police presence was unable to contain the situation. Several anti-Chinese riots occurred at the Lambing Flat camps around the present-day town of Young over a period of 10 months, between and One of the most serious riots occurred on 30 June when approximately European diggers attacked the Chinese miners. Although they tried to get away from the violent mob, about Chinese miners were gravely injured and most lost all their belongings. Some Chinese miners later petitioned the colonial government for compensation.
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