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Pre-Treaty Historical Context

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Pre-Treaty Historical Context

Read the historical briefing and use the timeline to investigate Aotearoa in the decades before 1840. Then answer the questions. When historians explain the past, they look at different perspectives and use evidence carefully.

Historical briefing: Aotearoa before 1840

By the early 1800s, Māori had lived in Aotearoa for many centuries. Authority and decision-making rested with iwi and hapū, whose rangatira led their communities. Māori political life was not one central government: relationships, alliances and decisions varied between communities. Contact with Europeans grew through visiting ships, traders and missionaries. From the 1790s, some Māori communities traded food and other goods with ships. In the following decades, trade included flax, timber, potatoes and other produce. Māori sought useful goods, including metal tools, while European traders wanted supplies and access to resources. Māori communities made their own decisions about these relationships; they were not simply passive participants. In 1814, the Church Missionary Society established a mission station at Rangihoua in the Bay of Islands. Missionaries introduced Christianity and literacy, and some Māori learned to read and write. Māori also adapted new knowledge and technologies in ways that suited their own communities. Growing contact also brought challenges. The musket trade contributed to major changes in warfare during the Musket Wars, although conflict had many causes and involved Māori groups making their own strategic decisions. Some Europeans settled permanently. Disputes arose over land purchases, and there was no effective British system of law governing all settlers in Aotearoa. Māori rangatira and communities faced questions about how to protect their authority, people and resources as settlement increased. In 1835, northern rangatira signed He Whakaputanga o te Rangatiratanga o Nu Tireni, usually called the Declaration of Independence. It declared the independence of the united tribes and stated that authority rested with rangatira. Britain recognised the declaration. It did not create a single government for every iwi and hapū, and not all Māori signed it. By the late 1830s, British officials, missionaries and some Māori rangatira were concerned about disorder and increasing settlement. British settlers and companies also wanted more land and opportunities to trade. In 1839, the British government sent William Hobson to negotiate with Māori rangatira. These different concerns formed part of the context for the making of Te Tiriti o Waitangi in 1840. People did not all share the same aims, and Māori and British understandings of the agreement differed.

Date

Event

1790s

Trade between Māori communities and visiting ships grows.

1814

A Church Missionary Society mission station is established at Rangihoua.

1835

Northern rangatira sign He Whakaputanga; Britain recognises the declaration.

1839

William Hobson is sent to negotiate with Māori rangatira.

1840

Te Tiriti o Waitangi is made.

Investigate the context

Use details from the briefing and timeline. For questions asking you to explain, support your answer with evidence.

1.Multiple choice: Which statement best describes political authority in Aotearoa before 1840?

Britain governed every iwi and hapū.
Māori authority rested with iwi, hapū and their rangatira; there was not one central government.
No leaders made decisions in Māori communities.
All Māori communities had the same political aims.

2.Select all that apply: Which goods or resources were part of trade described in the briefing?

Flax and timber
Potatoes and other produce
Metal tools
Steam engines built in Aotearoa

3.Put these events in chronological order by writing 1, 2, 3 and 4 beside them: He Whakaputanga is signed; the mission station opens at Rangihoua; Hobson is sent to negotiate; trade with visiting ships grows.

4.True or false? He Whakaputanga was signed in 1835 by northern rangatira, and Britain recognised the declaration.

TrueFalse

5.Explain one way Māori communities shaped trade with Europeans, rather than simply accepting what Europeans wanted.

6.Matching: Match each development to its historical significance.

He Whakaputanga, 1835
Rangihoua mission station, 1814
Hobson sent to negotiate, 1839

An early mission station where Christianity and literacy were introduced
A step towards negotiations that led to Te Tiriti o Waitangi
A declaration of independence by northern rangatira, recognised by Britain

7.The briefing describes both opportunities and challenges from growing contact. Give one example of each, and explain how they could affect relationships.

8.A classmate says, “He Whakaputanga created one government for every Māori community.” Use evidence from the briefing to correct this claim.

9.Explain why Māori rangatira and the British government might each have agreed to negotiate in the late 1830s. Include one possible concern or aim for each, and remember that neither group had only one viewpoint.

10.Evidence challenge: Choose one detail from the briefing that helps explain why negotiations took place before 1840. State the detail, then explain how it connects to the need for an agreement.