Treaty of Waitangi Essay

 

In 1830 there were 100,000 Māori and 100 Europeans living in New Zealand. The behavior of the Whalers, the Missionaries’ desire to help protect Māori rights, and the Musket Wars were reasons that a treaty was needed. The Declaration of Independence was another contributing factor to the need for a treaty.

One reason that a treaty was needed was the lawless behavior of some of the British Settlers like whalers. This was important because there were only 200 British and 300 whalers and sailors. While they weren’t always on land for a long time when they were they would party and live lawlessly because of this. Many sailors were out at sea for months at a time and when they got on land everyone knew. When they would arrive on land they would party and get into fights and illegal behavior. All of this mayhem was happening in the small town of Kororakeka or current day Russell. Because of this Kororakeka gained the nickname the hell hole of the pacific. Many Maori thought that a treaty could help solve this problem and this actually became one of the reasons many Maori chiefs signed the treaty as it made laws and restrictions to stop this.

Another reason that a treaty was needed was to protect Māori rights. One group that felt strongly about this was the missionaries. Missionaries had good relationships with the Maori people but they needed to keep good relations to be able to spread their religions. They went and taught Maori how to use many new types of equipment and way of life. They would teach reading and writing to Maori people as well which helped Maori understand them more. The missionaries were worried that Maori land was going to be taken and that the behavior of the whalers could cause people to die. The Missionaries ended up helping Maori get their right and brought land for them. The relationship between Maori and Missionaries would become a big reason why many Maoris would end up signing the treaty.

Another reason that a treaty was needed was the Musket Wars. The Musket Wars caused many deaths as over 20,000 lost their lives. Land borders were changed drastically because of these wars. These wars cause many Maori to be enslaved and taken by other tribes who had more muskets than the other tribe making them more powerful. Maori tribes would get muskets via the trade of food and flax. These musket trades gave Maori new weapons which they could use in war and whoever had the most muskets where probably more likely to win. After Nga Puhi traded for muskets a spike in musket trades happened as everyone wanted muskets this would cause many wars and for tribal boundaries to change so much, this was unusual in the 1800s. When these trades happened this cause many deaths to Maori which would then become a reason for the European population in New Zealand to grow. Maori people were becoming scared and now because of this many thought, a treaty would help this issue and stop many deaths to Maori.

The final reason that a treaty was needed was the existence of the Declaration of Independence. What was the Declaration of Independence? Interestingly the Declaration of Independence has caused Maori to do many things such as now being able to trade with other countries. This would cause Maori to have Aotearoa considered as a country. Maori would be able to have control of the land too. The declaration caused Maori to finally have the land and protection be theirs. It also gave them freedom because if it failed they would have the Crown as a backup as the king would gain ownership if anything goes wrong. This would boost the relationship between the Crown and Maori. This was big for the treaty signing.

In conclusion, a treaty was needed because of the sailer/whalers, keeping relations between the Missionaries and Maori, for the musket wars to end, and for the Declaration of Independence to work better. This would make New Zealand closer together and they would now have better connections with each other and the rest of the world. This would also help them with things such as law and help them make their own government. The most significant point would be the Declaration of Independence as this would help the Crown get closer to this land and have a sense of ownership but this would also give Maori better rights of living, safety, and better ownership of their land. This treaty allowed us to do many things and we could live with the Maori people this would also allow Maori to have a voice. If the treaty was written later it may be very different. I personally think well things turned out ok in the end, the history of it wasn’t good and that it would be different if it was made at a later date. We learned that while the treaty was a good thing, many of the things written in the treaty were not upheld and many people involved in the signing were aware of this. The treaty was important for New Zealand and its history but in the future, I think the treaty will be upheld and that everyone will end up liking the treaty. The Treaty of Waitangi is an important part in New Zealand history and I think everyone should be aware of this.