Responses to the Treaty of Waitangi

1174 Words5 Pages
Responses To The Treaty Of Waitangi The Treaty Of Waitangi was signed on the 6th of February 1840 at Waitangi in the Bay Of Islands by the Maori Chiefs of New Zealand and the British Crown. The Treaty Of Waitangi is a founding document that was written to unify the Maori and British into a bi-cultural country. The Treaty has caused many different responses from the time it was signed to current debates today. The Treaty Of Waitangi was proposed by the British five years after the Declaration Of Independence was signed in 1835. The British realised that the Declaration Of Independence did not give them power or control, and that the land could be very beneficial in many ways giving them fisheries, forestries and good land for farming if they had supreme authority and leadership over it. Also, the many immigrants that were arriving to New Zealand (whalers, sealers and traders) were getting drunk, starting fights and causing problems and they needed to be controlled by law. So the British Government sent William Hobson to ask Maori to sign a treaty with Queen Victoria. James Busby and William Hobson together wrote a draft Treaty. A missionary, Henri Williams, translated it into Māori. Eventually the Maori agreed to sign the Treaty. The Maori wanted regulated settlement and support in controlling settlers and land sales. They would also receive protection from the French as they had a particular interest in sending ships to New Zealand. The Chiefs were assured by the British that their own authority was left in place by Article Two of the Treaty in the Maori-language version. Misunderstanding about the meaning of the words in the Treaty has resulted in both the Maori and the British believing they had full authority over New Zealand. There are three main articles to the Treaty with a fourth article added later to give religious freedom to the New Zealanders.
Open Document