Blog 4 -- Timelines

Although they are halfway across the world from each other, the brief histories of Australia and New Zealand and the United States of America have many similarities. First of all, each of the three countries was settled by Great Britain in the eighteenth century. However, all three countries had native people living there before the Europeans came, which were the Aborigine, the Maori, and the Native Americans. At first, the natives were opressed by the settlers and had less rights. Eventually, though, they gained equal rights by 1967, beginning with the Maori in 1840, followed by the Native Americans in 1924, and finally the Aborigine in 1967. Each country gained its independence from Great Britain by the late 1940s (America: 1776, Australia: 1901, New Zealand: 1947). Gold was discovered in each country from the late 1840s to the early 1860s, inducing a gold rush. However, the amount of gold actually found overall wasn't very much, only a little more than ten tons in Australia (http://www.america.gov/st/educ-english/2008/April/20080407162843myleen0.756222.html). 

On the other hand, the three countries also have many differences. For example, while the Native Americans and the Maori attacked the European settlers on their lands, there weren't any significant struggles between the Aborigines and the Australian settlers. Furthermore, the Maori and the Native Americans signed documents with settlers, agreeing to make peace (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Waitangi). However, the Aborigines were told there would be a peace treaty, no such document ever surfaced. Furthermore, Australia was originally settled as a prison colony (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convicts_in_Australia). Also, America has only one native marsupial, which is the opossum (http://www.ask.com/ref?qsrc=3041&o=41647999&l=dir&q=north+american+Marsupial). These three countries have their discrepancies, yet in the end, they're not so different after all.

       References (not cited directly):

• http://www.nebraskastudies.org/0700/frameset_reset.html
• http://www.nebraskastudies.org/0700/stories/0701_0140.html
• http://www.america.gov/st/educ-english/2008/April/20080407162843myleen0.756222.html