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New Zealand History Timelines

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New Zealand History Timelines

Use the timeline and event cards below to investigate how Aotearoa New Zealand changed over time. Read dates carefully: some events happened over a period, while others have a single date. Write full explanations where asked.

Read the timeline

The dates below mark significant events in New Zealand history. The timeline is a guide to their order, not a measure of how important each event was.

1.Use the timeline to find the earliest event shown. Write its name and year.

1840 — The Treaty of Waitangi was first signed at Waitangi. Many Māori rangatira and representatives of the Crown signed versions of the treaty.

1893 — The Electoral Act gave women the right to vote in parliamentary elections. New Zealand became the first self-governing country to do so.

1907 — New Zealand became a Dominion, changing its constitutional status within the British Empire.

1914 — New Zealand entered the First World War after Britain declared war on Germany. New Zealand forces served overseas.

1967 — New Zealand changed to decimal currency. The new dollar and cent system replaced pounds, shillings and pence.

1975 — The Waitangi Tribunal was established to consider claims about breaches of the Treaty of Waitangi by the Crown.

Put events in context

A timeline helps historians see sequence and distance between events. It does not, by itself, explain why an event happened or how people experienced it.

2.Which event happened between women gaining the vote in 1893 and New Zealand entering the First World War in 1914?

The Treaty of Waitangi was first signed
New Zealand became a Dominion
Decimal currency was introduced
The Waitangi Tribunal was established

3.Put these four events in chronological order, from earliest to latest: the Waitangi Tribunal was established; women gained the right to vote; decimal currency was introduced; New Zealand became a Dominion.

4.How many years passed between the first signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840 and women gaining the right to vote in 1893? Show or explain your calculation.

5.Choose one event card that shows a change in people's rights or in the way the country was governed. Name the event and explain the change.

6.True or false? The Waitangi Tribunal was established before the Treaty of Waitangi was first signed. Correct the statement if it is false.

TrueFalse

7.A timeline records that decimal currency began in 1967. What important information about people's everyday lives does this date alone leave out?

8.Imagine you are adding one event card to a class timeline. Write a concise entry about the 1975 establishment of the Waitangi Tribunal, including its date and purpose.

9.Which statement best explains why historians use timelines?

They prove that the event with the latest date was the most important.
They show the order and spacing of events, helping us compare when things happened.
They explain every cause and consequence without any other evidence.
They show that history never changes.