Annexation & Colonial Policies

 

I.  Annexation

         A.  Who? = Britain, France, Germany, America

         B.  Why?

                  1.  no Òscramble for the PacificÓ

                  2.  two themes

                           a) international rivalry

                                    -- Hawaii Diplomatic Mission (1842-1843)

                                    -- Tongan treaty negotiations (1870s)

                           b) self-interest groups

                  3.  underlying assumption = racial superiority

         C.  When & Where?

                  1.  first wave = 1840s & 1850s

                           a) New Zealand to Britain (1840)

                           b) Marquesas & Tahiti to France (1842)

                           c) Hawaii to Britain (Feb. to July 1843)

                           d) New Caledonia to France (1853)

                  2.  second wave = 1870s to 1900

                           a) Fiji to Britain (1874)

                           b) French Polynesia (1881)

                           c) Germany taking initiative (1885-86)

                                    -- Marshall Islands to Germany      

                                    -- Carolines to Spain   

                                    -- Gilbert & Ellice to Britain

                                    -- Solomon Islands & New Guinea divided

                                             -- Òspheres of influenceÓ

                                             -- Germany (north)

                                             -- Britain (south)

                           d) Cook Islands to Britain (1888)

                           e) Hawaii & Guam to America (1898)

                           f) Marianas & Carolines to Germany (1898)

                           g) Samoa divided (1899)

                                    Germany (west) & America (east)

                           h) New Hebrides shared by Britain & France (1887)

                                    -- condominium (1906)

II.  Colonial Policies

         A.  New Zealand

                  1.  no indigenous centralization

                  2.  settlement brought annexation

                           -- Captain William Hobson

                           -- Treaty of Waitangi (1840)

                  3.  Maori affairs

                           a) legal equality

                           b) assimilation & miscegenation

                  4.  self-government to colonists (1852)

                           a) war (1860-66) --> land confiscated

                           b) Maori get four seats in parliament (1867)

                  5. Maori resistance (1880s & 1890s)

                           -- Young Maori Party

         B.  Fiji

                  1.  Sir Arthur Gordon (1875-1881)

                           a) his ambition

                                    -- humanitarian interests

                                    -- civilizing mission

                           b) ÒNativeÓ policies

                                    -- administration

                                    -- taxation

                                    -- land

                                    -- labor

                  2.  impact of GordonÕs policies

                           a) new orthodoxy

                           b) parallel lines of development

                                    -- Fijian and Indian

 

 

 

Think/Write Question

Campbell said:  ÒThe history of the partition of the Pacific islands does not fit very well the idea of predatory European imperialist nations grasping for every speck of available land.Ó  Do you agree with his assessment?