Flagstaff War - Causes

Causes

The Treaty of Waitangi was first signed on 6 February 1840 and conflict between the British Crown and Māori tribes was to some extent inevitable after that. Ostensibly the Treaty established the legal basis for the British presence in New Zealand. It is still seen today as the document that established New Zealand. However, both parties, and indeed most of the signatories, had different understandings of its meaning. The Māori believed that it guaranteed them the continued possession of their land and the preservation of their customs. Many of the British thought that it had opened up the country to mass immigration and settlement. On 21 May 1840 New Zealand was formally annexed by the British Crown and the following year the capital moved to Auckland, some 200 km south of Waitangi.

In the Bay of Islands, Hone Heke, one of the original signatories to the Treaty, was becoming increasingly unhappy with the outcome of the signing of the treaty. Among other things, Heke objected to the relocation of the capital to Auckland; moreover the Governor in Council impose a custom tariff on staple articles of trade that resulted in a dramatic fall in the number of whaling ships that visited Kororareka (over 20 whaling ships could be in the bay at any time); a reduction in the number of visiting ships caused a serious loss of revenue to the Ngāpuhi. Heke and his cousin Titore also collected and divided a levy of £5 on each ship entering the Bay. Pomare's grievance was that he no longer collected payment from American ships that called at Otuihu across from Opua Heke and the Ngāpuhi chief Pomare had listened to Captain William Mayhew, the Acting-Consul for the United States since 1840, and other Americans talk about the successful revolt of the American colonies against England over the issue of taxation. Heke obtained an American ensign from Henry Green Smith, a storekeeper at Wahapu who had succeeded Mayhew as Acting-Consul. After the flagstaff was cut down for a second time the Stars and Strips flew from the carved sternpost of Heke's war-canoe.