The Search for Identity 1788-1900

By the late nineteenth century, nationalism in Australia was on the rise. The idea of the nation emerged with the means for its realization. By the 1880s native- born Australians had begun to outnumber the immigrants, and the momentum for a full- born Australian nationalism increased. Three-quarters of the population had been born in Australia and the camaraderie and defiance of the diggers on the goldfields became a huge source of national pride, just as it did with their namesakes in World War I. …