People+at+the+Gold+fields

The troopers Before the gold rushes there were only 44 soldiers and a handful of polce to control all the miners. To make sure that they collected the licence fees, troopers used whips, musket butts, boots and bayonets. Mounted troopers would engage in "Digger hunts" through the goldfields where prospectors would be ridden down in front of their comrades, beaten up, charged, and then fined. At times, the troopers didn't even bother about hunting the diggers without a licence. Instead, they would just target any digger, beat him up, and if need be, have him prosecuted for assault.



Imagine that you are a trooper on the gold fields. Fill in the Y chart by putting in the sounds, sights and feelings that you would experience in the middle of a hunt for "licence dodgers" or miners at "Eureka Stockade.

Click on the movie clip below to help you.

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