Introduction to History of New Zealand
According to legends of the Maoris, their ancestors came to New Zealand in six canoes during the 14th century. Archeologists say the migration may have started much earlier and reached a climax at that time. The Maoris were fierce warriors and practiced cannibalism. Their culture was at an advanced Stone Age level.
Discovery and Exploration
In 1642 Abel Janszoon Tasman, exploring for the Dutch East India Company, sighted the South Island. The Dutch named the new land for the province of Zeeland in the Netherlands. In 1769–70, the English explorer James Cook sailed around the two islands and revisited them for further mapping and exploration in 1773, 1774, and 1777. He claimed New Zealand for Great Britain, but the British government refused to establish jurisdiction over it.
Meantime a French expedition under Jean F. M. de Surville had stopped at New Zealand in 1770. In 1772 another party (whose leader, Marion du Fresne, was killed by the Maoris) claimed the country for France. With the founding of the Botany Bay colony in New South Wales (as Australia was then called) by Great Britain in 1788, New Zealand came into the British colonial sphere. Seal hunting at the southern end of the South Island began in 1792.
By the late 1790's United States whalers were working the waters off the North Island. The first settlement, of mixed nationality, grew up on the Bay of Islands. It was a lawless community of whalers, traders, seamen who had jumped ship, and runaway convicts from the Botany Bay colony.
Maori Tribal Warfare
The Maori population in 1800 was probably somewhat more than 200,000. Generally the natives did not resent the settlers. In 1814 Samuel Marsden, the Anglican chaplain of New South Wales, founded a mission at Bay of Islands, and the missionaries were accepted as friends by the Maoris. Muskets were a favorite trade item for which the Maoris exchanged their flax and timber. The coastal tribes, who obtained firearms first, used them freely against enemy tribes. As each tribe acquired muskets, the tribal wars became more deadly. By 1840 the Maori population had fallen to about 100,000.
Important dates in New Zealand (before 1840)A.D. 1200 Polynesian settlers arrived in New Zealand.1642 Abel Janszoon Tasman became the first European to sight New Zealand.1769 The British navigator and captain James Cook circumnavigated (sailed around) New Zealand.1772 The French explorer Marion du Fresne was killed at Bay of Islands.1791 Sealing and whaling began off the New Zealand coast, followed by trade in flax and timber.1814 The chaplain at the Australian colony, Samuel Marsden, established an Anglican mission at Bay of Islands.1835 A group of Maori chiefs called the Confederation of Chiefs of the United Tribes of New Zealand signed the Declaration of Independence.1837 The British colonial theorist Edward Gibbon Wakefield formed the New Zealand Association to promote British colonization of the country.1839 The New Zealand Association was reorganized and renamed the New Zealand Company.Colonization
In 1837 Edward Gibbon Wakefield organized in London the New Zealand Association (later Company). Failing to win government support of his plans, he prepared to found a colony as a private enterprise. France also began making plans to send settlers.
In 1839 Great Britain decided to take sovereignty over New Zealand and sent out Captain William Hobson. In January, 1840, the first group of Wakefield's colonists landed at the site of Wellington. A week later Captain Hobson arrived at the Bay of Islands and called a meeting of Maori chiefs at Waitangi. Under the Treaty of Waitangi, signed February 6, 1840, the Maoris agreed to accept British sovereignty in return for protection of their land rights. A few days later a small French party landed at Banks Peninsula in the South Island. When informed that they were in British territory, they accepted British sovereignty.
Growth of the Colony
As a British possession, New Zealand was at first a dependency of New South Wales, with its capital at Russell on the Bay of Islands. In a few months the capital was moved southward to Auckland, and in 1841 New Zealand was proclaimed a crown colony. Immigrants came from New South Wales and from Britain. Wakefield's company established early settlements at New Plymouth and Wanganui in the North Island, and at Nelson on Tasman Bay in the South Island. The company also helped found two church-sponsored colonies on the South Island—Dunedin in 1848, and Christchurch in 1850.
Important dates in New Zealand (1840-1852)1840 William Hobson became lieutenant governor and issued a proclamation to stop the buying of land in New Zealand.1840 The Treaty of Waitangi, giving the British the right to govern New Zealand, was signed by Maori and representatives of the British Crown.1842 The Nelson settlement was established.1848 The Otago Association established a settlement at Dunedin.1850 The Canterbury Association founded a settlement at Christchurch.1852 The British government established a central government and six provinces for New Zealand.Sheep-raising was introduced early, and became a major occupation in the South Island. In 1852 New Zealand adopted a constitution, and in 1856 the colony became completely self-governing. In 1852 a modest amount of gold was found in the North Island. Many persons turned to prospecting, and in 1861–62 major discoveries were made on the South Island. Immigration, farming, and grazing all grew with the gold rush. Population increased from 59,000 in 1858 to 256,000 in 1871. The capital was moved to Wellington in 1865.
Wars With the Maoris
The British government intended that land in New Zealand be purchased fairly from the Maoris. Land speculation on the North Island began, however, as soon as plans for colonization were made. Various questionable means of acquiring Maori land were devised. The Maoris realized that they were being cheated and incidents of violence resulted. Sporadic uprisings from 1844 to 1847 were followed by an interval of quiet.
Full-scale war began in 1860 and continued irregularly for 12 years. The conflict was confined to the North Island, and at no single time were all the Maori tribes at war. In fact, loyal Maoris fought with the colonial troops. Individual engagements were small, but the Maori custom of preserving and displaying the heads of slain enemies, and the ferocity of their attacks, made the conflict widely known. Consistently defeated, the Maoris ended the rebellion in 1872. Because of the frequent fighting, as well as exposure to new diseases and the change to an unfamiliar diet, their numbers had diminished steadily. By the 1890's there were fewer than 45,000 Maoris.
Important dates in New Zealand (1853-1900)1853 Voters elected the first provincial councils and superintendents.1854 Elections for the General Assembly were held.1860 Prospectors discovered gold in Otago.1860-1872 Settlers on the North Island fought Maori in the New Zealand Wars.1862 The government established the Native Land Court to convert group Maori ownership of land into individual titles.1863 Governor Sir George Grey ordered the invasion of the Waikato district. The colonial government passed legislation allowing the seizure of Maori land.1867 The government set aside four seats in the House of Representatives for Maori members.1890 The Liberal Party won the national election.1893 Women were granted full voting rights.Social and Economic Development
New Zealand's provincial system of government was abolished in 1876 and a unitary system was inaugurated. An economic depression started in the early 1880's. Under the leadership of John Ballance the Liberal party came into power in 1891. With Richard John Seddon as prime minister, 1893 to 1906, many progressive social and industrial laws were passed. These provided for government intervention in labor disputes, regulation, of working conditions, old age pensions, public health measures, food and drug standards, and public financing of housing and farm purchases.
Meanwhile, introduction of refrigerated ocean transport had made possible the export, particularly to Britain, of meat, cheese, and butter. Sheep-raising on the South Island and a thriving dairy industry on the North Island restored the country to prosperity in the 1890's.
The Maoris had sunk to a deplorable condition. Although free primary education was available to them, they were living largely in ignorance and poverty. Gradually a reform movement arose among young, educated Maoris and part Maoris. Sir James Carroll, the first person of Maori ancestry to become a minister of the crown (Ministry of Native Affairs, 1899), encouraged the reform efforts of a group of younger leaders. Three of the group who attained ministries were Sir Apirana Ngata, first Maori graduate of the University of New Zealand (1893); Sir Maui Pomare, who took a medical degree in the United States; and Sir Peter Buck, who later was a professor of anthropology at Yale University.
Through government action and the efforts of individuals, the Maoris were taught improved health and sanitation practices, shown how to make better use of their land, and given a new appreciation of their own cultural heritage. The 1906 census showed, for the first time in decades, a rise in Maori population—the first step of a resurgence that would find them by the middle of the 20th century to be the largest group of Polynesians in the world.
Before World War II
New Zealand gave full support to British imperialism. Ten contingents of troops were sent to South Africa to fight in the Boer War, 1899–1902. The Cook Islands were annexed in 1901. In 1907 New Zealand achieved dominion status. In World War I it furnished troops for the ANZAC (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) expeditionary force. Also, New Zealand occupied Western (German) Samoa, over which the League of Nations gave it a mandate after the war.
In the early 1930's the worldwide economic depression was felt acutely in New Zealand. In 1935 the Labour party, which had promised to create a welfare state, came to power. Under Michael Savage as prime minister and Walter Nash as minister of finance, socialized medical and hospital care was introduced, public works and public housing programs were started, and wage-and-hour laws were enacted. Railways and most of the large coal mines were nationalized, and agriculture, especially dairy farming, was subsidized. A social security system was established in 1938.
Important dates in New Zealand (1900-1950)1907 New Zealand became a dominion within the British Empire.1914-1918 New Zealand fought in World War I on the side of the Allies.1915 Anzacs landed at the Gallipoli Peninsula in Turkey as part of an Allied invasion of the Ottoman Empire.1935 The Labour Party won the national election.1939-1945 New Zealand fought in World War II against Germany.1947 New Zealand became a fully independent nation.World War II and After
New Zealand entered World War II at its start and provided forces for all theaters of war. Although the country had never taken action on the 1931 Statute of Westminster under which it could have autonomy, it acted as an independent nation during the war. (The statute was adopted by New Zealand in 1947.) Thousands of Americans came to know New Zealand during the war when it was the U.S. Navy's South Pacific headquarters.
In 1950 New Zealand joined the Colombo Plan. New Zealand military units fought in Korea (1950–53), and in 1951 a defense treaty known as ANZUS was signed with Australia and the United States. The country became a charter member of the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization in 1954. New Zealand troops helped British forces combat Communist guerrillas in Malaya, 1955–60.
The 1960's marked a change in New Zealand's relations with Great Britain. As the British reduced their role in the Far East, New Zealand put more emphasis on its economic and military alliances in the Pacific. It sent troops to Vietnam in 1964 in support of United States forces.
In 1984 the Labour party came to power. It declared the South Pacific a nuclear-free zone, causing diplomatic difficulties with France and the United States. France rejected the declaration and insisted on its right to test nuclear weapons in the South Pacific. In 1985, New Zealand refused berthing rights to U.S. Navy vessels that were either nuclear-powered or nuclear-armed. In 1993, voters approved a referendum establishing an expanded parliament elected under a system of mixed member proportional representation. The system was first used in the 1996 parliamentary elections, which brought to power a center-right coalition headed by the National party. In 1997, Jenny Shipley took over the leadership of the National party and became New Zealand's first female prime minister.
A coalition of Labour and Alliance parties won the most seats in the parliamentary elections held in 1999; New Zealand's first female prime minister to be elected to the post was the Labour party's leader, Helen Clark. In 2002, a majority of parliamentary seats were won by a coalition of Labour and Progressive Coalition parties. Clark remained in the position as New Zealand's prime minister. A parliamentary election in 2005 resulted in a win for the Labour party and in Clark's continuance in the role of prime minister.
Important dates in New Zealand (since 1951)1975 Maori groups marched to Wellington, calling for investigations into abuses of the Treaty of Waitangi. The government established the Waitangi Tribunal to investigate reported government abuses of the treaty.1981 The South African rugby team toured New Zealand, sparking protests against the South African apartheid (racial segregation) policies.1984 New Zealand banned ships carrying nuclear weapons or powered by nuclear reactors from entering its ports.1985 The government extended the Waitangi Tribunal's jurisdiction to hear historical claims dating back to 1840.1986 The United States suspended its military duties to New Zealand under the mutual defense treaty ANZUS.1993 New Zealand adopted a mixed member proportional election system.1997 Jenny Shipley replaced Jim Bolger and became the first woman prime minister of New Zealand.1998 Helen Clark became the first elected woman prime minister of New Zealand.