[Music] [Music] the Treaty of Waitangi New Zealand's founding document was first signed on the 6th of February 1840 much debate surrounds its meaning and interpretation at the beginning of the 19th century there is frequent contact between Maori and foreign whalers sealers traders and missionaries natural resources such as trees for shipbuilding are traded minor disagreements and conflict occur small groups of Europeans are the guests of the 100,000 plus Maru population early contact is conducted largely on the Maltese terms by 1830 over a thousand European ships are visiting New Zealand each year lawlessness prevails sailors escaped convicts
and adventurers from the colony of New South Wales are difficult to control there was trade taking place there were people arriving there was wailing and sealing and so the British didn't really feel the need for anything in particular in a sense they were forced into it by concerns raised by Maori Chiefs about the behavior of principally British subjects in our Tarawa and the the need for some sort of control and discipline Maori and British concerns grow that the French want to annex New Zealand 13 Maori northern Chiefs petitioned King William the 4th for protection the
crown promises protection during the 1830s British missionaries and humanitarians pressure the crown to save the Maori from the same devastating effects that European colonization and imperialism has had upon the indigenous cultures in Africa Australia and the Pacific there was a movement within Britain to acknowledge and to regret the very harmful effects that that British occupation british colonial authority had had in some other countries they could see the results in Australia for example the condition of ever original people around settlements like Port Jackson Sydney were very distressing missionaries in New Zealand also discouraged land sales by
purchasing it and acting as trustees to local tribes James Busby is appointed first official British resident to New Zealand he's given little support to enforce his authority the Maori have an economic need for nationhood with Maori trading particularly with New South Wales they had ships they were trading quite extensively back and forth but the problem was our total New Zealand as a nation did not exist and under British maritime law of the day in order to trade a ship needed to have firstly a flag Salander a flag and secondly to have a ship's register with
no official authorization James Busby creates the Declaration of Independence of New Zealand written in Maori it is signed by 34 northern Chiefs more Chiefs from further south sign over the next four years the Chiefs see this as an expression of Maori nationhood the Maori interpret this as a crown guarantee of Independence Busby an other British see it as a step toward making New Zealand a British position declaration is officially acknowledged by the king in 1836
