From August 1851 when miners in Victoria were given the right to buy gold licences, permitting them to mine a small area of land, until Federation was proclaimed on 1 January 1901, a distinct Australian national identity was forged. There were many events and circumstances that contributed to the development of the Australian national identity. Some of these events were the gold rushes and eureka in 1851, bushranging and farming, and federation in 1901. These events and circumstances contributed to these characteristics of the stereotypical Australian: Mateship, hard-working, hard-drinking, practical, anti-authoritarian, and rough,
When gold was first discovered in 1851 in Victoria thousands flocked to try their lunch at finding gold. It was this event in 1851 that started to shape Australia’s national identity. The gold field’s environment was perfect for cultivating the mateship between the miners, and also other people that come from all over the world. They lived together every night and day and they learned to cope with each other and became friends with each other. Another quality that was cultivated on the gold fields was that of egalitarianism and that of anti-authoritarianism. This showed in the Eureka stockade. Egalitarian means that they didn’t want to be treated as lower people, and they all wanted to have their say. This attribute was fuelled by the introduction of the gold licenses, and the gold hunts. Another quality which is similar to egalitarianism is that of anti-authoritarianism. This meant the miners didn’t want anyone to boss them around, they wanted to have freedom. Another quality that came out was the hard-drinking and hard-working attributes. Miners would work for 12 long hours and then go and use the money that they earned throughout the day on beers and drinks at the local pub. The gold fields was also were bushranging started.
The gold fields provided a good opportunity for thieves and especially bushrangers. They sometimes...