Blog Three; The Good Ol' History of Australia and New Zealand

When we travel to a place it's important to learn about the history of place you go to visit. It improves your overall knowledge of the area you are going and will make you trip more enjoyable when you don't have to stop your travels to think about something you don't understand about the place. There are quite a few similarities and differences between Australia and New Zealand, and the United Sates that occurred over history.
In 1769 Captain James Cook, an English explorer made his first voyage to New Zealand. This inspired other Europeans to travel to the islands to explore. He would later make two more voyages to New Zealand. Around the same time, in 1770, Britain claimed Australia and later settled the first of six colonies in 1788. In the mid to late 1700s in the United States the British were also in control. Taxes were being put and/or raised on goods. The Boston Massacre and the boston Tea Party (along with other Intolerable Acts) occurred around that time. The English were attempting to take over as many places as possible during this time. When Captain Cook "land[ed] in Bontany Bay on the eastern side of Australia and claimed New South Wales for Britain," the Aborigines did not put up a fight, unlike the Americans did when the British took over the United States (australianexplorer.com).
In New Zealand, the Maori signed the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, giving the British control in exchange for guaranteed possession of their lands and protection from harmful outside forces. During the 1940s in the U.S. we gained territory, our population grew, and we participated in the Mexican War (americasbesthistory.com), While New Zealand stayed peaceful, we went into battle. No much later, in the 1850s, Gold is discovered in southern Australia. Settlements were completely deserted when people rushed to gold mines. In the U.S. during the 1850s we didn't have gold, and we didn't rush to leave empty spaces. Those years were mainly centered around the organization or land and territories.
New Zealand was able to stay pretty peaceful until 1860 when the Maoris and Europeans began a war that would last for years. Now it was our turn for peace (at least for a short time) when Abraham Lincoln was elected president and we were currently not in a massive war, such as the Maoris (wsu.edu/~campbelld/amlit/1860.htm). Then in 1861 gold was discovered in Tuapeka, New Zealand. Both Australia and New Zealand discovered gold in their land within years of each other, and each lead to a large gold rush.
In 1901 six colonies formed together to create the Commonwealth of Australia that had a democratic government. Only a ceremonial role was given the Britain. Then in 1907, within the British Empire, New Zealand became a self-governing community (dominion). In the early 1900's of the U.S. the country experienced not much government change rather than social change and movement through art and literature. At this time Australia and New Zealand both experienced government changes with Britain still a part of their government and territory. This different from the United States' changes through economics and books.
In 1947 New Zealand gained it's independence from Great Britain. This happened on account of New Zealand passing the Statute of Westminster Adoption Act and the New Zealand Constitution Amendment Act in order to abolish the Legislative Council (parliament.nz). During 1947 in the U.S. the Taft-Hartley Act was passed allowing monitoring of labor and work forces. Other than that, it was mainly a year for sports and films successes. The year 1947 was an important one for New Zealand; not so much for the United States.
Aborigines are given the right to vote in 1962 Australia, even though New Zealand had already given even the women the right to vote by 1893. Five years later they are finally recognized as citizens in their home country. This was also the time that Australia entered the Vietnam War (vietnam-war.commemoration.gov). In 1962 America there were different Acts and changes in the government, as well as the Cuban Missile Crisis. Both Australia and the United States are close to danger at this point.
In 1976 The Aboriginal Land Rights Acts was passed in Australia.This gave the Aborigines the right to make claims on their ancestral land located in the Northern Territory. This was a huge legal turning point in Australia. This gave safety and power to the Aborigines. Nine years later the Aborigines gained back Uluru. In the United States during 1976 there was not a high social change or legal turning point, but the death penalty is socially accepted as a form of punishment. (Yikes! >.<)
The in 2008 the Australian parliament apologized formally for wrongs committed against the Aborigines in the past. This may possibly be the point in time that harsh feelings were eternally settled, and a new life could be made for all citizens and countries involved. 2008 in New Zealand was a big year for politics and government events. The United States' main events of 2008 were very similar to New Zealand's events, dealing with government affairs. The major events in history have slowed down for all three countries at this point.
By learning about the history of Australia and New Zealand in comparison to the United States I feel as though I am more prepared to travel to these places. I have a better overall understanding of these countries and know what to expect in my learning when I go there.


*Captain James Cook lands in Australian and New Zealand


*Early gold rushes in Australia and New Zealand