Why Was a Treaty Needed?
In 1830 there were 100,000 Māori and 200 Europeans living in New Zealand. The behaviour of the Whalers, the Missionaries’ desire to help protect Māori rights and the Musket Wars were reasons that a treaty was needed. The Declaration of Independence was another contributing factor to the need for a treaty.
One reason that a treaty was needed was the lawless behaviour of some of the British Settlers like whalers. After the whalers would get back from months and months at sea they would drink a lot and get very drunk. This caused them to break out in heaps of fights and arguments with each other. The fighting and arguments caused a lot of chaos. This is important because without the treaty their fighting and bad behaviour could have ended in fatalities. This would have caused a lot of chaos and separation between the British Settlers. A treaty was needed so there wasn’t so many fights and separations between the Whalers.
Another reason that a treaty was needed was to protect Māori rights. One group that felt strongly about this was the missionaries. They were worried about the number of Maori being killed or enslaved because of musket wars, the Pakeha sailors violent behaviour, the spread of diseases, and the large land sales. These caused the number of Maori to drop drastically. In 1836 there were around 100k Māori, by 1901 there were only around 25,000 Maori. This is why the Missionaries wanted to protect the Māori because it was their land and they didn’t want them to lose it through large land sales. A treaty was needed to protect the Māori rights and to stop the number of Māori dropping.
Another reason that a treaty was needed was the Musket Wars. In 1807-1842 during the musket wars, over 20,000 Māori died. The first tribe to get the muskets was named Nga Puhi. They got their muskets through trading crops for muskets. This resulted in the death of some Māori. Population and power change. All the tribes had muskets which turned them into killing machines. This is why they needed a treaty. The treaty helped to stop the wars and fights over land and to stop the Māori from killing each other. Without the treaty, they could still be fighting over land and killing each other till this day.
The final reason that a treaty was needed was the existence of the Declaration of Independence. Interestingly, the Declaration of Independence was signed for trading and legal purposes. It was created to protect the rights of the Māori and give the Māori power over New Zealand. On October 28th 1835 the Declaration of Independence was signed. It was signed by 52 chiefs. The Declaration of Independence meant that the Māori could only trade with the British but it did not make any laws about helping anyone who lived in New Zealand. Without the Declaration of Independence, the Māori might not have gotten power over their land but it didn’t help anyone who lived in New Zealand so for this reason a treaty was needed, it only gave Māori power. They needed a treaty so it was fair for everyone. This affected many.
This essay has demonstrated that without the Treaty of Waitangi there could still be lawless behaviour with the British settlers. There would have been nothing to protect Māori rights. The musket wars could still be happening and the numbers of Māori could have dropped even more. I think a strong reason a treaty was needed was the musket wars. This killed a lot of Māori and without the treaty, the Māori numbers would have dropped even further. I think that for the future a treaty could be needed for every country. I think that the treaty has helped to save this country and without it, we wouldn’t be where we are today.
