dec 3, 1854 - Eureka Stockade

Description:

People came to Ballarat in hope to find gold. People came from far and wide with big dreams. But when they arrived their dreams were crushed because there was no land for them to buy and they couldn’t vote. The only people who could vote was people with large properties. People had to pay for a licence to mine for gold which got checked randomly every once in a while. If they didn’t have it on them, they would be punished and arrested. One-night James Scobie and some other were out for a drink at a hotel and angered the owner called James Bentley. He murdered James Scobie and got away with it because he had property and was well connected to the judges. This angered the miners, so they burnt his hotel down. On the 30th of November 1854 miners came and burnt their licences. They took an oath to the southern cross lead by Peter Lalor. They built a stockade around the Eureka flat. On the 3rd of December 1854 police and soldiers arrived at the stockade and started a battle early in the morning. The battle went on for 15 minuets leading to 22 miners killed, 1 woman and 6 soldiers. Peter Lalor along with some other men escaped and 13 men were on trial for treason. Victorians had heard about this and started protesting for miners’ rights. Soon enough the miners license was replaced, and it now allowed miners to mine vote and occupy empty land. This lead to Australia being a fair place for miners to live and work.

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