(SOST) Treaty Essay

Historians argue that understanding the cause of significant events is much more important than just remembering dates, facts, and figures about things in the past. In 1840 the Treaty of Waitangi is an agreement signed between Maori-Tangata Whenua of Aotearoa-and the British. The Treaty of Waitangi is needed to bring peace and order between Maori and the British in New Zealand. Although it was signed in the past, The Treaty of Waitangi is very much important in Aotearoa.

Before the Treaty of Waitangi, British whalers acted negatively and causing chaos in Kororareka. Maori people are getting abused by the British because of their chaotic behavior. Without the treaty, the British Whalers will continue to cause havoc in Kororareka. The British whalers we're drinking heavily, fighting and a lot of prostitution is happening in Kororareka. This results that the Treaty of Waitangi is needed to make an agreement to create laws stop the chaotic behavior of the British whalers from happening again.

The missionaries wanted to help the Maori to protect their rights by signing the treaty. The missionaries influenced the Maori to sign the treaty by gaining their trust. The missionaries also introduced Christianity, Literature and farming methods to the Maori. Because of the missionaries, the Maori got influenced to sign the treaty and protect their rights.

The musket's wars changed tribal boundaries, killed a lot of Maori, approximately 20,000 people, and forced other tribes to trade muskets in order to balance the military power. The introduction of muskets caused a lot of wars between the tribes in New Zealand. Many Maori are killed during the wars. Other tribes traded food and flax to the British peoples in order to obtain muskets. Without the treaty, more people will get killed, tribal boundaries will continue to shift and musket wars will continue.

Was there anything in place before the treaty. Interestingly, the declaration of independence happened before the treaty. 34 Northland chief made a deal with the British: Mana (sovereignty) of New Zealand remained Maori but they can only trade with the British. Maori declaring themselves to have sovereignty over the country made New Zealand an independent country under the United Tribes of New Zealand and asked the king for protection from other countries from taking over the country.  This was important because there were no laws created to protect Maori as had been agreed in the Declaration. The declaration mainly happened because the Maori wanted to trade with other countries and to stop the lawlessness happening in New Zealand. Signing a new treaty would have resolve this.

This essay has demonstrated that the signing of the treaty was needed to put up laws in New Zeland to protect the rights of Maori. It showed that without the Treaty the Musket Wars and the unlawful behaviours of the whalers would've continued. We can learn from this essay that the declaration of independence was important even though it didn't work as planned. It helped New Zealand stop violence and start creating laws resulting in a Treaty of Waitangi. These laws have now improved and made New Zealand a more peaceful country. The Treaty of Waitangi helped New Zealand to be a better country.