What was one negative effect of the gold rush?

Answer 1

There were many negative effects of the gold rush:

- Many Native Americans in the area died, because they were killed by the newcomers.

- Not many people struck too much gold, and most did not even get rich.

- There was no established form of government, so people appointed themselves as officers, and killed many innocent people.

Answer 2

Negatives of the Australian gold rush included:

• The greater displacement of the indigenous people as more and more of them were forced off their land.
• Separation of families as fathers left their jobs and went to the goldfields, hoping to strike it rich, while their wives stayed behind, sometimes having to operate the farms and stations on their own.
• Environmentally, the goldrush was a disaster, although unrecognised at the time. Features of the Australian landscape were forever altered in the space of a few decades, and soil erosion was a major effect, the evidence of which can still be seen today. Water quality was affected as people used the creeks and rivers for all their activities, including bathing and washing dirty (sometimes disease-ridden) clothes. Water salinity rose as natural watercourses were diverted. Introduced noxious weeds decimated native flora and affected native fauna, as did the introduction of domestic animals to hitherto unpopulated areas.