No abstract

This essay focuses on several characteristics central to a global history of nineteenth-century gold rushes: the accelerated mobility of goods, people, and ideas caused by overlapping rushes; the redistributive power of gold-rush gateways; the transition from alluvial to capital-intensive corporate mining; and the shift in technologies and labor regimes that accompanied these thickening transnational networks. Acting in tandem with these processes of global connection and redistribution were a series of powerful counter-currents: the destruction of indigenous communities, the erection and policing of material and mental frontiers from threatening “others,” the protracted consolidation of capital and elaboration of class hierarchies and the rapid but long-term loss of ecological sustainability.

No abstract

No abstract

The 1897 colonial conference coincided with Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee and an outpouring of late‐Victorian imperial sentiment. Against this backdrop of imperial celebration, colonial leaders met with Secretary of State for the Colonies, Joseph Chamberlain, whose own views as to the importance of imperial reform were taking shape. For the most part, while grateful for Chamberlain's interests, Australian leaders feared significant imperial reform might undermine rather than reinforce imperial unity. As a result, the conference struggled to translate pro‐imperial sentiment into tangible commitments. This article argues that the meetings between Chamberlain and colonial leaders in 1897 are worthy of examination not only because they shed light on Anglo‐Australian relations but also because they provide insight into a significant period in the history of late‐Victorian British imperialism and the development of Australian federation. Drawing on the confidential proceedings of the conference, this article offers a close reading of the key imperial issues under discussion and their resonance in contemporary Australian and imperial political discourse. Moreover, it contends that the conference debates reflected not only important issues in Anglo‐Australian affairs, but also a series of broader ambitions and limitations when it came to the campaign for imperial unity in the late‐Victorian era.