Colonisation of New Zealand

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Colonization of New Zealand

Bibliography

• Story of the world volume 3 by Susan Wise Bauer made in 2004
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_New_Zealand
• www.tourism.net.nz › ... › New Zealand Colonisation
• www.history-nz.org/colonisation.htm
• http://www.parliament.nz/resource/mi-nz/00PLSocRP00101/dd813ed30474d07ed48b8da60257af8bac15a7df
• http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/culture/history-of-new-zealand-1769-1914
• www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hzr-F4Hfgjo

By Charles Hood

Has the colony been successful

Overall, even though there are disputes over the treaty every year, I think the colony has been successful because people have good jobs, the land is rich in minerals, it is famous for its sheep and wool and there is less pollution than other countries.

How the Maoris are treated today

In New Zealand the Maoris are treated partially fairly.

"Relative to the European/Pākehā population, the Maori and Pacific Island population have lower incomes, higher rates of unemployment, poorer educational and health outcomes, a greater likelihood of living in rental

accommodation, and proportionately more convictions for criminal offences."

from http://www.parliament.nz/resource/mi-nz/00PLSocRP00101/dd813ed30474d07ed48b8da60257af8bac15a7df

This means Maoris have more chance of being poorer and unhealthy.

On the other hand ,just like all New Zealanders , Maoris have the right to vote and have free health and schooling. Maori is taught at schools, and Maoris can receive scholarships to go to universities.

Positive Effects

Maori benefits of colonization were exposure to British culture, new technology and new medicines to fight disease. After the wars in 1867 all Maori men were able to vote and in 1893 women could vote also. Being able to vote started to help the Maoris have their needs and rights met by the colony.

Negative Effects

Maori people had their land taken away from them and they had nowhere to live. The British brought in diseases to which the Maoris were not immune resulting in further Maori deaths. The British brought in guns used amongst the Maoris in their own tribal wars. Many Maoris also died in the wars against the British. By the 1900's the Maori population had steeply dropped to about 40000 and they had lost almost all of their land.

The Wars

The British version of the Treaty of Waitangi said that the British had sovereignty over the land. In the Maori version they were given all the rights and privileges of British subjects. The British version was used, so when more British immigrants arrived this allowed the British to sell off Maori land to the settlers.

Not being represented in parliament and selling off the Maori land led to the Maori - British wars in the mid 1840's and 1860's. The British were eventually victorious!

Imbalance of power

In 1852 the New Zealand Constitution Act was introduced by Britain to New Zealand with a form of parliament. Although there were many more Maoris than white settlers the Maoris had hardly any representatives in the parliament(4 out of 72). As a result the Maori's needs were not being heard by parliament and so they were less powerful than the British.

Settlers

2000 Pakeha(europeans) were already living in New Zealand before 1840. They were mainly whalers and missionaries sent to convert the Maoris(native New Zealanders) to Christianity. The Maori tribes fought with each other but the Pakeha brought guns making the wars more deadly. The Pakeha also bought disease that the Maoris couldn't fight off.

Why they were colonized

The Treaty of Waitangi

British colonization of New Zealand

Before 1840, New Zealand wasn't a British colony so the British had no right to make rules for its people, Maoris or Pakeha to follow. On 6 February 1840 a British navy captain named William Hobson met with Maori leaders to sign the Treaty of Waitangi to protect the property and rights of the Maori in return for recognizing England as their ruler. William Hobson became the Governor of this new British colony.

Christian missionaries asked the British colonization office to colonize New Zealand to help bring order and calm.

Also, the British were concerned that if the French took over New Zealand that it would threaten the British colony in Australia so the British would need to colonize them first.

A British colony in New Zealand would help ease the overcrowding and lack of work in Britain. It was also a good supply of natural resources such as minerals, farmland and crops.

Finding New Zealand

Before colonization, the British, the Americans and the French were active in various trades around New Zealand. Their whalers, traders and sealers were working around the New Zealand coastline. Deep-sea whaling commenced during the years 1791-2, the first arrival being the whaler, "William and Ann". Shortly later, in 1792, the whaler "Britannia" began operating in Dusky Sound (South Island).

From 1797 American whalers arrived, and during the 1830s the French whaling ships turned up in significant numbers. Seals were hunted, and their skins taken for the Chinese market. Spars were also cut for the Chinese market and the Indian Navy. The flax trade grew.

In 1769, Captain James Cook was sent by the British to search for the great southern continent and to observe the transit of Venus. He happened upon New Zealand and became the first person to circumnavigate and map it.