Social SciencesFreePrintable

New Zealand History Events

A free social sciences worksheet ready for your classroom. Open in Kuraplan to grab the print-ready PDF, customize it for your students, or generate a fresh version in seconds.

Download now

Name:Date:

New Zealand History Events

Read the timeline and source notes. Use evidence to investigate how events in Aotearoa New Zealand have shaped the country. Some questions ask you to explain your thinking.

A timeline of change

Aotearoa New Zealand’s history includes many communities, experiences and viewpoints. These events are milestones, not the whole story.

1840 — Te Tiriti o Waitangi / the Treaty of Waitangi was signed by representatives of the British Crown and many Māori rangatira. The Māori and English texts differ in important ways.

1860s — Wars over land and authority, often called the New Zealand Wars, caused loss of life and land. Māori communities experienced lasting effects.

1893 — New Zealand became the first self-governing country to grant women the right to vote in parliamentary elections. Māori women and Pākehā women were among those who campaigned.

1860s–1870s — Gold discoveries drew people to places such as Otago and the West Coast. Gold mining changed towns and landscapes and brought new migrants.

1.Use the dates in the timeline to place these events in order from earliest to latest: the Treaty signing, the New Zealand Wars in the 1860s, and women gaining the parliamentary vote.

2.Which statement about 1893 is accurate?

New Zealand became the first self-governing country to grant women the right to vote in parliamentary elections.
All women around the world gained the right to vote.
Women were given the right to become members of Parliament.
Voting became compulsory for every person in New Zealand.

3.The Māori and English texts of Te Tiriti o Waitangi communicate exactly the same meaning in every important detail.

TrueFalse

4.In 1893, women in New Zealand gained the right to in parliamentary elections.

5.Match each event to a change or effect described in the timeline.

Gold discoveries in the 1860s–1870s
New Zealand Wars
Women’s suffrage campaign

Loss of life and land, with lasting effects for Māori communities
Growth of mining towns and changes to landscapes
Women gained the right to vote in parliamentary elections

6.The timeline notes that the Māori and English texts of Te Tiriti o Waitangi differ in important ways. Give one thing this written source might help a historian investigate and one thing it cannot tell a historian on its own.

7.Why might Māori communities and British Crown representatives have understood the Treaty of Waitangi differently? Use the clue that the two texts differ in important ways.

8.Choose either the New Zealand Wars or the gold discoveries. Explain one way the event changed people’s lives or the land, using evidence from the timeline.

9.A classmate says, “One source tells us everything about an historical event.” Write a response explaining why historians compare different kinds of evidence and viewpoints.