- Sydney Ducks
The Sydney Ducks was the name given to immigrants from
Australia inSan Francisco , during the mid-19th century. Because of the prevalentnativism in theUnited States at the time, along with the well-known British penal colonies in Australia, these immigrants werestereotype d as criminals, and were blamed for phenomena such as an 1849 fire that devastated the heart of San Francisco, as well as the rampant crime in the city at the timeUndoubtedly, there were criminals among the Sydney Ducks who operated in
gangs , but the community also included sailors, longshoremen, teamsters, wheelwrights, shipwrights, bartenders, saloon keepers, washerwomen, domestic servants, and dressmakers. The largest proportion (44%) were born inIreland and migrated during theGreat Irish Famine , first to Australia as laborers and then toCalifornia as part of the Gold Rush. [cite journal|last=Ricards|first=Sherman L.|coauthors=George M. Blackburn|title=The Sydney Ducks: A Demographic Analysis|journal=The Pacific Historical Review|volume=42|issue=1|date=February 1973|pages=20–31] [ [http://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/~rgibson/vigilante.pdf What is a Vigilante Man? White Violence in California History] by Mike Davis.]The alleged criminality of the Sydney Ducks was the catalyst for the formation of the Committee of Vigilance of 1851. The vigilantes usurped political power in the city, conducted secret trials, lynchings, and deportations, which effectively decimated the Sydney Ducks. The area where the Sydney Ducks clustered, thebase of Telegraph Hill, was originally known as "Sydney-Town," but by the 1860s was called exclusively by its better-known name, the Barbary Coast.
References
See also
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Anti-Australian sentiment External links
* [http://www.sfgenealogy.com/sf/history/hbtbc3.htm "The Sydney Ducks,"] from "Barbary Coast" by Herbert Asbury (New York, 1933). A nativistic depiction of the Sydney Ducks as criminals and undesirables.
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