How did a fugitive slave from the USA end up among Australian Diggers?
John Swanson Jacobs was born in North Carolina in 1815, had five owners over 18 years, and represented the sixth generation of his family in slavery. Having taught himself to read and write, he constructed a 20 000 word narrative of his experiences and a defiant indictment of slavery itself. Unfiltered, it was published in a Sydney, Australia, newspaper 25th April, 1855. https://trove.nla.gov.au/
But what was he doing in Australia?
Jacobs had taken the opportunity to escape while in New York with his Congressman owner, Samuel Sawyer in 1839. He reached New Bedford, Mass., signed on to work on a whaling ship and travelled the world. On return to the USA, his oratory and publications on the obscenity that was slavery gathered speed.
However, the 1850 Fugitive Slave Act came into being and demanded that North and South recapture slaves. Jacobs’ response was to become one of the 400–500 former slaves to sail to Australia. In total, 18 000 Americans rushed to Australia to find gold, first in New South Wales then in Victoria.
By 1861, there were about half a million migrants in Victoria alone on the gold fields. Talk of a gold rush had sent people to find their fortune, hence the term, diggers. Most miners tried to get along but the largest group, the…
