What happened
Angered by heavy licence fees and rough policing, diggers built a stockade under the leadership of Peter Lalor, raised the Southern Cross flag, and swore to resist.
Background
Before dawn on 3 December 1854, soldiers and police stormed the stockade, and in a fight of about twenty minutes many died, mostly diggers. Those captured were tried for treason, but juries acquitted them all.
Consequences
In its wake the licence fee was abolished and diggers were given the vote. Eureka is often invoked as a symbol of Australian democracy and its anti-authoritarian spirit.