December 3rd 1854
On the 3rd of December 1854, the Eureka Rebellion occurred. The Rebellion was an altercation between the diggers of the Ballarat goldfields, and the police who enforced law on the goldfields. It resulted in the death of 30 out of 170 diggers. Only five soldiers were killed. The actions of the government - particularly the introduction of the mining license, the injustice in James Scobie's murder investigation, and the actions of the police - were to blame for the Rebellion.
On the 1st of September 1851, the mining license was introduced. It cost approximately 30 shillings. The miner’s license was the government’s response to provide infrastructure during the Gold rush. It was proclaimed by governor La Trobe. To recapitulate, the money was used for the government and helped police keep track of miners. This displays that the governments greed was the cause of this license being brought to light. It was this very greed that left diggers beaten and financially unstable. The next big event in the eureka stockade that was illuminated was the infamous James Scobie murder.
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William Bentley, the owner of the Eureka hotel, was thought to be the one to murder James Scobie. In accordance to the ECB, they state that “what started as a peaceful protest, quickly turned into a riot”. The diggers fought against the hotel, leaving it burned to the ground. Though many were apart of the riot, only 3 were arrested for the crime. In response to the major riot, a Ballarat reform league is formed by diggers and all members press for charges. This illuminates that fact that the diggers were ostracised and were not treated fairly by the police and even the public like the owner of the hotel. In fact, the investigation was not fair to begin with and the trial clearly had a bias towards the hotel owner proven by the Eurekapedia. This action is what kickstarts the upcoming