Social Studies: Treaty of Waitangi Essay

In 1830 there were 100,000 Māori and around 200 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. The treaty was created to enforce whalers to treat the Maori as their own so that nothing bad could happen such as slavery and prostitution. The whalers miss treated the younger Maori females because they got insanely intoxicated and then took their drunken rage towards the defenseless younger females. At one point in time, there could be over 200 whalers which would come back from their trips and directly disrespect the Maori. Since the whalers spent months out at sea they would have many things they would have missed out on while out there, so as soon as they got back all they did was everything they couldn’t. Due to the whalers coming back in this way they brought many issues back when they came back from their trips.

Another reason that a treaty was needed was to protect Māori rights. One group that felt strongly about this was the missionaries. As more missionaries came alone they brought more life standards and their religion with them which started to make the Maori learn about religion and start to believe more about their own rights. The missionaries helped the Maori realize that they are apart of the lifestyle in New Zealand. Missionaries caused the Maori to change their ways and start to care more about themselves which then the Maori to stand up for themselves. Missionaries helped all the Maori learn and write their own language. Missionaries started to help the English learn their own language. As the Maori learned to hand write words, they learnt who to be a true group of people. So as the missionaries helped the Maori learn about the English / French culture, the Maori changed the way they lived.

Another reason that a treaty was needed was the Musket Wars. 20,000 people were killed because of these muskets coming to New Zealand and the Maori fighting over the land that they thought they should have. This all happened between 1800 and 1899 which meant there was no medication to help the wounded or sick. As more muskets arrived, the Maori power changed. Maori started to gain and lose their land but as they lost the land they lost more and more people which meant that once the leaders came together everything stopped and more people didn’t have to die. If the treaty had come in faster there wouldn’t have been a war between different tribes and from tribes towards the English. As the muskets came alone the Maori history changed for the worst but then it all came back together to create the world we know of now. Muskets have been changing the Maori culture for years.

The final reason that a treaty was needed was the existence of the Declaration of Independence. Why was the declaration of independence was needed to gain control over New Zealand?. Interestingly, New Zealand got the declaration of independence to make everyone come together for the greater good of New Zealand. New Zealand had the declaration of independence put in place to make us friends with England but not being controlled. The declaration was put in place to stop other countries from raiding the Maori’s stuff and their personal belongings. With the declaration in place, the Maori had very little to worry about when it came to stealing and raids. The impact that the declaration had n the Maori culture was a massive part of New Zealand’s history. If New Zealand wasn’t an independent country, we wouldn’t be the amazing country we are today. This is New Zealand’s history.

In conclusion, a treaty was needed because New Zealand was having so many fights and wars. With the way New Zealand was before the treaty, New Zealand wouldn’t be the way it is today. I believe that without our treaty we would not be the New Zealand that we are today. New Zealand would still be at war and would still be fighting over basically everything.