Situations Essays 2004 - 2006
2004
SIGNIFICANT ISSUES | |||
1. | The impact on Mäori of contact with Päkehä, before 1840. | 4. | Gender discrimination in the world of work and/or welfare. |
2. | Mäori resistance to Päkehä sovereignty 1860–1900. | 5. | The impact of migration on |
3. | The impact of alcohol consumption on men, women and families. | 6. | Mäori and Päkehä attitudes and actions concerning land and land use. |
Choose ONE of the issues above and use it to answer the following question.
ESSAY TOPIC
What was the historical significance of ONE issue that affected people in
2005
SIGNIFICANT ISSUES | |||
1. | Mäori interaction with whalers, sealers, traders, and the British Crown before 1840. | 4. | Alcohol consumption in |
2. | Resistance to Päkehä and Government actions led by Mäori prophet leaders such as Te Ua Haumene, Te Kooti Arikirangi, Tïtokowaru and Te Whiti o Rongomai between 1863 and 1881. | 5. | The debate that occurred between 1870 and 1900 about whether women should have the right to vote in central government elections. |
3. | The gold industry within | 6. | Problems associated with the dependent economy of colonial |
Choose ONE of the issues above and use it to answer the following question.
ESSAY TOPIC Describe ONE issue that influenced people in nineteenth-century Analyse the ways in which this issue changed over time and influenced the lives of New Zealanders in this period. |
2006
ESSAY QUESTIONS | |||
1. | Describe developments that took place in the relationship between Māori and Pākehā between 1800 and 1840. Evaluate the influence that contact with Pākehā had on Māori between 1800 and 1840. | 4. | Describe the major changes that took place in Evaluate the influence of these changes on the lives of nineteenth-century New Zealanders. |
2. | Describe the events in Evaluate the influence that the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi had on | 5. | Describe the changes that took place in the rights and roles of women in Evaluate the influence of these changes on the lives of |
3. | Describe developments in Evaluate the economic and political influence that pastoralism had on New Zealanders during this time. | 6. | Describe the developments that took place in Evaluate the influence of these developments on the lives of nineteenth-century New Zealanders. |
Choose ONE of the essay questions above to answer.
Early Contact
2004
The impact on Mäori of contact wih Päkehä, before 1840.
2005
Mäori interaction with whalers, sealers, traders, and the British Crown before 1840.
2006
Describe developments that took place in the relationship between Māori and Pākehā between 1800 and 1840. Evaluate the influence that contact with Pākehā had on Māori between 1800 and 1840.
Treaty
2006
Describe the events in
Evaluate the influence that the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi had on
Industry
2005
The gold industry within
2006
Describe developments in
Women and Social Change
2004
The impact of alcohol consumption on men, women and families.
2005
The debate that occurred between 1870 and 1900 about whether women should have the right to vote in central government elections.
2006
Describe the changes that took place in the rights and roles of women in
The impact on Mäori of contact with Päkehä, before 1840.
SIGNIFICANT ISSUE:
The nature of contact and its influence on Mäori culture, lifestyle and identity
HISTORICAL CONTEXT could include:
• explorers
• whalers
• sealers
• traders
• timber and flax extraction
• missionary activity
• Musket Wars
• involvement of the British Crown
• inter-marriage
• Mäori visiting
• a long-isolated group suddenly exposed to contact.
TERMS / CONCEPTS / IDEAS could include:
• Mäori agency
• acculturation
• annexation
• fatal impact
• conversion
• “ a workable accord ”
• oral history
• dual colonisation
• dual agency.
CHANGE / TRENDS / PATTERNS OVER TIME could include:
• “ Give us Päkehä ” – the desire of Mäori to have Päkehä reside with them as this would allow them to access Päkehä goods and ideas
• the odd violent incident involving misunderstanding between Mäori and Päkehä (such as the Boyd incident), but the overwhelming attitude of Mäori to Päkehä and their materials was positive – Mäori enthusiastically embraced tools and ideas
• Mäori conversion to Christianity was very slow to start with, but, as the missionaries became more independent and Mäori literacy boomed, Mäori converted largely through their own agency from 1825 onwards
• the changing nature of race relations in the 1830s with the French interest in
the Elizabeth Affair and the interest of the Wakefields in
WAYS IN WHICH THE ISSUE INFLUENCED PEOPLE could include:
• Mäori agency – Mäori taking Päkehä goods and ideas, using them for their own reasons, and spreading them amongst themselves
• disease – at certain places at certain times
• Musket Wars – a new form of warfare for the old reasons (Ballara estimates 20 000 dead)
• conversion in its various forms
• Päkehä involvement in inter-tribal affairs (eg Elizabeth Affair)
• experiences of missionaries and their wives and families
• a two-way process – Päkehä copied Mäori medicine as well as vice versa.
2005: Māori interaction with whalers, sealers, traders, and the British Crown before 1840
Description of the issue and its context
Content could include:
• Whalers – plenty of contact as Māori worked on whaling ships and travelled to
Ngai Tahu also ran whaling boats. There was also plenty of inter-racial interaction for rest and recreation in the
• Sealers – there was much less contact between the sealers and Māori, but there was some intermarriage especially in the deep south around
• The Timber trade – this was concentrated largely in the far north, especially Hokianga. Māori benefited from ship building as capital was pumped into the hapū associated with the ship builders. Thomas McDonnell’s shipyard at Te Horeke came under the mana of Te Taonui of Te Mahurehure (
• The Flax trade, which, along with timber, enhanced the importance of the Whangaroa and Hokianga harbours. Māori shift to the swamp.
• The musket trade.
• The trade in dried heads.
• British Crown – 1817 Statutes, early Māori links with NSW Governors; chiefs Hongi and Waikato met King George IV in 1820;
Terms / concepts / ideas
Content could include:
• Māori agency
• dual agency
• acculturation
• ‘fatal impact’
• dual colonisation
• ‘a workable accord’
• synthesis.
Changes / trends / patterns over time
Content could include:
• Initial conflict caused by misunderstanding, eg the Boyd incident, but then much more positive race relations as Pākehā and Māori realised that they both had things that the other race wanted. Māori embraced most aspects of European life, marrying European men and adopting and adapting their tools, artefacts, and weapons, etc for their own use.
• The changes that occurred to Māori warfare as a result of the Musket Wars.
• The imbalance of power caused by the musket trade and the eventual restoration of the balance of power.
• The increasing involvement of the British Crown in
• The start of Māori nationhood through the Declaration of Independence.
Ways in which the issue influenced people
Content could include:
• Māori Agency – Māori taking Pākehā goods and ideas, using them for their own reasons and spreading themamongst themselves
• disease, due to lack of immunity, at certain times and places
• Musket Wars – 20 000 killed – a new type of warfare for the old reasons
• Pākehā involvement in inter-tribal affairs (eg
• a two-way process, eg Pākehā imitated Māori medicine as well as vice versa
• Declaration of
2006: Describe developments that took place in the relationship between Māori and Pākehā between 1800 and 1840. Evaluate the influence that contact with Pākehā had on Māori between 1800 and 1840.
The candidate’s response to the first part of the essay question could include:
• Initial conflict between Māori and Pākehā caused by misunderstanding, eg Boyd incident, but then much more positive race relations as both Pākehā and Māori realised that they both had things that the other race wanted.
• The developments that occurred to Māori warfare as a result of the Musket Wars and the changes that occurred to relations between Māori and Pākehā as a result. Pākehā became crucial to survival as a source of weapons for this new form of warfare.
• The increasing involvement of the British Crown in New Zealand despite their reluctance to be involved and the relationship between the crown and Māori. Early Māori links with NSW Governors; chiefs Hongi and
• Māori conversion to Christianity was very slow to start with; but as the Missionaries became more independent and Māori literacy boomed, Māori “converted” largely through their own agency from 1825 onwards.
Many of the changing relationships between Māori and Pākehā centred on the following industries:
• Whaling – plenty of contact as Māori worked on whaling ships and travelled to
Ngai Tahu also ran whaling boats. There was also plenty of inter-racial interaction for rest and recreation in the
• Sealing – there was much less contact between the sealers and Māori, but there was some intermarriage, especially in the Deep South around
• The Timber trade – This was concentrated largely in the far north, especially Hokianga. Māori benefited from shipbuilding as capital was pumped into the hapu associated with the ship builders. Thomas McDonnell’s shipyard at Te Horeke came under the mana of Te Taonui of Te Mahurehure (New Zealand Historical Atlas).
• The Flax trade, which along with timber enhanced the importance of the Whangaroa and Hokianga harbours.
• The musket trade.
• The trade in dried heads.
• Māori visiting
The candidate’s response to the second part of the essay question could include:
• Many Māori embraced most aspects of European life, marrying European men and adopting and adapting their tools, artefacts, and weapons etc. for their own use.
• Māori Agency—Māori taking Pākehā goods and ideas, using them for their own reasons and spreading them amongst themselves—an idea would include Christianity.
• Disease, due to lack of immunity, at certain times and places.
• Musket Wars—20 000 killed. A new type of warfare for the old reasons.
• Pākehā involvement in inter-tribal affairs (eg Elizabeth Affair).
• A two-way process. eg Pākehā imitated Māori medicine as well as vice versa.
• Declaration of
• Māori involvement in the major industries referred to above.
• Major changes in Māori population distribution. Major movement of iwi during the 1830s caused by musket wars and the desire for trade.
• ‘Conversion’ in its various forms.
• Māori literacy.
• Contact with Europeans provided a source of mana.
2006: Describe events in
The candidate’s response to the first part of the essay question could include:
• Changes in the concern by both Māori and Pākehā over “Lawless Europeans” at Kororareka and other European settlements and Samuel Samuel Marsden’s campaign for Colonial Office intervention.
• The Elizabeth Affair and its impact on Māori / Pākehā relations. Captain Stewart and the inability of Ngai Tahu to have him tried in a New South Wales Court because of the ambiguous nature of
• La Favorite entering the harbour at Kororareka and the petition organised by Yate and signed by thirteen chiefs referring to the “tribe of
• The appointment of James Busby as British resident, a low-cost stopgap measure. His relationship with Māori and the few Pākehā settlers was never positive.
• Busby’s arrival, his flag for ships trading from
• The arrival of Baron de Thierry in Tahiti and then
• The 1835 Declaration of Independence was a radical action taken by Busby. It was to establish Māori sovereignty. The chiefs were to have a parliament. No one followed the laws of the assembly, so it stopped meeting.
• The appointment of James Stephen to run the Colonial Office in
• The first
• E.G.
• The departure of the Tory and the intentions of
• The arrival of missionaries and the impact on Maori/Pakeha relations.
The candidate’s response to the second part of the essay question could include:
• The hastily drafted, ambiguous, inconsistent and contradictory document led to the Māori and the Crown having totally different understandings of what they had promised each other. Hobson believed that
• Evaluation of post-treaty race relations conflicts such as the Wairau Incident, Northern War, and the Waitara dispute, which resulted from misunderstandings of the Treaty and the different expectations that each party had of each other.
• A belief by Pākehā that the Treaty was
• Māori dissatisfaction with Treaty breaches as demonstrated through the actions of Hone Heke and Kawiti and the Northern War.
• Establishment of Settler Government (and the reduction of the authority of the Governor) by
• The establishment of Kingitanga as a response to the perceived unwillingness of the Crown to honour their Treaty promises.
2005: The gold industry within
Description of the issue and its context
Content could include:
• The discovery of gold substantially and very quickly altered the course of
• 194 000 settlers came to New Zealand in the 1860s, largely to find gold or to make money out of the huge support industry of publicans, theatre managers, store keepers, dancing girls, bankers, etc, which followed the miners.
• Most migrants in this period were male, unmarried, and young, causing a huge gender imbalance on the goldfields.
• The search for gold was a worldwide phenomenon. Many of
• The gold rush brought Chinese and non-British Europeans to
Terms / concepts / ideas
Content could include:
• alluvial or quartz
• migration
• sluicing or dredging
• support industry
• a ‘Man’s Country’
• atomisation.
Changes / trends / patterns over time
Content could include:
• Different types of gold mining existed in different places and at different times. In Otago and on the West Coast of the South Island, the gold was extracted through the washing of alluvial gravels, silts, and sand with simple cradles and sluice boxes (individuals), then with hydraulic sluicing systems using water races, pipes, and hoses (groups), and then with massive dredges that worked whole river beds (companies). On the Hauraki fields, the method of extraction was to crush gold-bearing quartz. This was no place for the individual miner. Local and overseas investors quickly formed companies to harness the capital needed.
• Major migration changes and a regional imbalance in the gender demographics.
• A shift in political power through ‘Middle Island Ascendancy’.
• Treatment of Chinese; laws discriminating against them.
Ways in which the issue influenced people
Content could include:
• Historians argue about the importance of the gold rush to
• Gold contributed significantly to the economic and political dominance of the
• Otago’s gold also created a sense of optimism for
• Gold also provided an incentive for foreign investors to put money into Vogel’s Plan.
• Most of the gold went overseas, mainly to mints in
2006: Describe developments in
The candidate’s response to the first part of the essay question could include:
• Pastoralism began in
• Most of the early Pākehā settlers also kept animals for their own use (meat, milk, butter, and cheese) or to raise a small amount of income through small-scale trade.
• Wakefield had largely discounted the prospect of large sheep runs. His ideal settlement was a close-knit arable farming community, but the east of both the South and
• 1600 sheep were taken from
• A drought in
• One of the most significant factors that led to the pastoralism boom was that the land for sheep runs didn’t have to be bought outright. It could be leased from provincial government or Māori. This allowed most of the capital to be used to buy sheep.
• Wool was the most significant export derived from pastoralism until refrigeration reached
• The first refrigerated ship to carry meat from
• Refrigeration allowed the
• The Liberal Government in the 1890s assisted the breakup of the great estates in the
The candidate’s response to the second part of the essay question could include:
Economic impact
• Wool was
The New Zealand Historical Atlas shows that in 1881, only 18 percent of the wool that was exported was scoured and only 15 percent was washed. Wool didn’t create many jobs for New Zealanders. The work for shearers was seasonal. The wheat industry provided more work than the wool industry.
• Refrigeration did lead to all-year-round employment in the meat and dairy industries.
• Pastoralism and especially refrigeration led to the
Political impact
• Pastoralism made
• Political power shifted from the South Island to the North Island as refrigeration (and governments) opened up opportunities for farming in Taranaki and the Waikato and the
2004 The impact of alcohol consumption on men, women and families.
SIGNIFICANT ISSUE:
The huge levels of alcohol consumption in nineteenth-century
HISTORICAL CONTEXT could include:
• in 1879, there was one pub for every 279 people in
• in six towns on the West Coast, there were 134 pubs for 14 000 people (1 pub for every 104 people)
• in 1900, arrests for drink-related offences outnumbered burglary by four to one.
(The statistics above are from Jock Phillips.)
Explanation could include:
• the fact that Päkehä men outnumbered women for the whole century
• unusual work patterns of many frontier men / loneliness
• atomisation and the lack of cohesive local community
• the nature of nineteenth-century male culture
• tradition of heavy drinking brought from
TERMS / CONCEPTS / IDEAS could include:
• temperance / ‘ wowserism ’
• Prohibition
• ‘ A Man ’ s Country ’
• atomisation
• Women ’ s Christian Temperance
• age of consent
• local option
• Contagious Diseases Act.
CHANGE / TRENDS / PATTERNS OVER TIME could include:
• the settling effect of women on men and the excesses of male culture
• the changing demographic that allowed this settlement to happen
• the impact of the WCTU and the campaign for the local option and the vote
• but the WCTU never succeeded in its primary aim of converting the
(Prohibition did come close in the early twentieth century).
WAYS IN WHICH THE ISSUE INFLUENCED PEOPLE could include:
• gambling and prostitution
• development of a male culture
• impact on women (socially and economically)
• the campaign against alcohol had a unifying effect for some women and led to major gains for women in the area of marital and political equality
• very real effect on families
• many used alcohol in a civilised way – not all of population represented by extremes of gross indulgence or total abstinence.
2005: The debate that occurred between 1870 and 1900 about whether women should have the right to vote in central government elections
Description of the issue and its context
Content could include:
• The women’s franchise campaign in
• In 1875, women ratepayers were granted a vote in local body elections and from 1877 they could sit on school committees.
• Many of the key male supporters of universal suffrage were ‘Liberals’, influenced by J. S. Mills’s Subjection of Women (1869). They believed that women were morally superior to men. Their involvement in politics would tone down the excesses of male culture often exhibited in Parliament, and especially on the electioneering trail.
• Some ‘conservatives’, such as Sir John Hall, believed that granting the vote to women would give more political power to the families and to settled, more conservative voters, who would support cautious government rather than radical change.
• Others argued that women were quite simply not up to voting. Their brains were too small to make ‘high stakes’ political decisions. Worse still, the vote would ‘unsex’ women, making them masculine.
• There were some other legislative victories for the holders of egalitarian ideals in the 1880s. In 1882, women won the right to vote for licensing committees. In 1884, the Married Women’s Property Act enabled married women to own property in their own right; previously all of a woman’s property passed to her husband on marriage. In 1885, women won the right to vote for hospital and Charitable Aid Boards.
• Richard Seddon (ex-publican) was the most determined and consistent opponent of women’s suffrage. He tried all sorts of tricks to stop universal suffrage Bills being made into Acts. In 1887 he inserted an extra clause into the Bill, restricting women voters to property owners. This upset ‘Liberals’ who voted against the Bill as a result. In 1890, a clause was inserted to restrict the vote to married women or university graduates. This again led to the bill being defeated.
• The founding of the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) in 1884. Initially, this was a temperance organisation, but soon the vote for women became one of its major goals. In 1891, Kate Sheppard essentially turned the WCTU into a single-issue pressure group. The WCTU organised nationwide petitions. In 1892, the Women’s Franchise League (WFL) was formed. A WFL petition in 1893 had 30 000 signatures.
• When the 1893 Bill was introduced, Seddon attempted to delay the introduction of women’s voting until 1896, by adding electoral rights to the Bill. He assumed that the Legislative Council (Upper House) would throw the Bill out. They were sick of his meddling and passed it to spite him.
Terms / concepts / ideas
Content could include:
• suffrage
• franchise
• egalitarianism
• temperance
• parliamentary process
• property rights
• colonial helpmeet.
Changes / trends / patterns over time
Content could include:
• demographic changes
• changes in campaign methods and points of view
• changes in leadership of WCTU and their impact.
Ways in which the issue influenced people
Content could include:
• women largely voted conservatively
• women were not granted the right to stand for parliament till 1919
• first woman MP was Elizabeth McCombs in 1933: she was elected after the sudden death of her husband
• the establishment of the National Council of Women
• the repeal of the Contagious Diseases Act.
2006: Describe the changes that took place in the rights and roles of women in nineteenth century
The candidate’s response to the first part of the essay question could include:
• There was a great variety of women’s experiences in nineteenth century
• The most common role for nineteenth century Pākehā women was as a mother, wife, worker, and “colonial helpmeet”. Marriage opportunities were greater in
• Marriage laws were discriminatory but improved slightly between 1850 and 1900. Deserted wives gained the “right” to their wages and property in 1860, and the 1884 Married Women’s Property Act gave them the right to the wages and property that they had brought into the marriage.
• Until 1898, the Divorce Laws made it much easier for a man to divorce his wife than it was for a woman to divorce her husband.
• The Contagious Diseases Act of 1869 legislated for the arrest, inspection for venereal disease, and incarceration of women suspected of being prostitutes. Their male clients were not inspected.
• The Education Act of 1877 made schooling compulsory for boys and girls, but the curriculum prepared girls for the domestic sphere.
• The “woman question” was the subject of articles and debates in the 1860s and 1870s. Mary Ann Muller (Femina), Mary Taylor, and Mary Colclough (Polly Plum) were key writers about women’s rights. In particular, they focused on the injustices of inequalities between women and men before the law and within the constitution.
• 1850–1900 saw some challenging of women’s roles, eg some questioning of women’s subordinate position in marriage, arguing for schools for girls, establishing cycling clubs, women entering the paid workforce, women’s trade unions (Tailoresses Union), the emergence of the Rational Dress Movement.
•Concerns over alcohol abuse advanced the programme for prohibition and temperance.
•Women’s suffrage – finally won in 1893. Entry of women into political sphere.
The candidate’s response to the second part of the essay question could include:
• Towards the end of the century, some women made it in the workplace despite the patriarchal society (eg Kate Edger, Elizabeth Yates, and Ethel Benjamin) but the majority of women were in a limited range of jobs, most of which were related to their accepted domestic roles.
• Rutherford Waddell’s sermon, the Sweating Commission and the Liberal legislation (Factory Acts, Shop and Shop Assistants Act) that resulted helped women improve their working conditions.
• Development of trade unions such as the Tailors and Tailoresses Union helped improve pay and working conditions for women.
• Very few women had economic independence from men.
• Women were appointed to sit on Charitable Aid Board.
• Old Age Pensions (1898) were NOT determined by gender (but the amount was rather stingy and Māori received only about half what Pākehā got!)
• There was still a double standard in attitudes to sex.
• Success of female suffrage by 1900 – 78 percent of women registered for the 1893 election and 85 percent (90 000) of these voted. Only 70 percent of men on the roll voted. The Liberals were elected.
• Female voting patterns don’t appear to have been much different to those of men, but male politicians did start to take note of issues concerning women and families.
• Meri Mangakahia sought rights for Māori women through Kotahitanga; in 1895, Te Hauke enabled Māori women to discuss land matters / equal rights for women within Kotahitanga.
• The franchise movement of the 1880s-90s led to wider debate on the comparative physical and intellectual capabilities of men and women and their social positions.
• Although women won the right to vote in 1893, they were not able to stand as parliamentary candidates until 1919.
• The National Council of Women was set up in 1896 to agitate for further improvements and a broadening of women’s rights.
• Infant Life Protection Act (1896).
• The Married Women’s Property Act improved the situation of women but was still well short of equality.
• Divorce Act Reform (1898) gave equal access to divorce for men and women.
• Factory Act (1896).
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