Invasion of Waikato - Aftermath of The First Taranaki War

Aftermath of The First Taranaki War

The First Taranaki War ended in an uneasy truce, arranged by Wiremu Tamihana and George Grey, along with his northern Maori ally Tāmati Wāka Nene. The two sides recognized that they had reached a stalemate. The British Imperial Troops and the Colonial Government had been denied a decisive victory over the Māori but the last Taranaki conflict had resulted in a defeat for the Ngāti Maniapoto toa. The Taranaki tribes had not fought alone but had been substantially aided, in both men and materials, from the Waikato region. This was the center for the King Movement, a loose federation of iwi and hapu which had been formed to set up an alternative Maori government whose main aim was to prevent the sale of any Māori land by Maori.Underpinning mounting Maori anger was increased by the sudden collapse of Ngati Maniapoto trade with Auckland and Australian between 1853 and 1857. This short boom period had been caused by an Australian gold rush. Ngati Maniapoto had a large income that was spent on goods such as sugar, shirts, tobacco but mainly rum. They were upset by how they were treated by the Auckland traders but the experience in a cash socviety had shown them that the government was making a huge income from buying land and reselling it to settlers. Many Maori wanted to sell land directly to settlers to cut out the government. In 1860 the Māori of New Zealand were nearly matched in population size by the Pakeha settlers and this presented a challenge to the Māori way of life. The government was warned by missionaries that young toa from Ngati Maniapoto might attack Auckland to extract utu, despite the Maori King advocating peace. Gorst, a missionary teacher, printer and magistrate,who had set up a trade school for Maori at their request, was attacked by Rewi Maniapoto at Te Awamutu on 25 March 1863, but Gorst was absent at the time. He was ordered by Rewi to leave but refused. The king maker, Tamihana, knew Rewi planned to kill him if he did not leave so he prevailed upon the governor to recall Gorst to Auckland. This he did. The Te Awamutu station was looted and burnt. All missionaries and farmers who had lived peacefully on their land in the Waikato for 20 years and given Maori enormous help setting up wheat farms and eight flour mills where threatened with death if they did not leave. The Maori students at the trade school were forced to flee to Auckland as well.

The settlers, on the other hand, could settle anywhere in the South Island, which had been purchased from Maori. Maori in the Auckland area had freely sold land to settlers. Here they were under the protection of Te Wherowhero, the first Maori king who preferred to live in Auckland at Mangere rather than on his own land at Tamahere (now a south Hamilton suburb). Although he was Maori king he had very little control over Waikato iwi,such as Ngati Maniapoto, who did not agree with him. There was one legal system over the whole of New Zealand, but in practice it was hard to enforce New Zealand law in predominantly Maori areas. Two systems were in operation: British law prevailed in the settlements and Māori custom everywhere else, because the British did not have the means to enforce the law. Bohan records several incidents where Maori who had committed serious crime – drunken violence and attempted rape of a Pakeha girl – could not be apprehended or were released from prison by their tribe. Because of Maori abhorrence of being jailed, the government had ordered magistrates to fine rather than attempt to jail Maori offenders. The politicians were equally unhappy with this arrangement, and they saw that the Māori King Movement was the main obstacle to peace and progress as a united colony.

The territory the rebel Kingitanga movement influenced began immediately to the south of Auckland, one of the main settlements. Governor Thomas Gore-Browne began making arrangements for the Waikato campaign to destroy the rebel Kingitanga stronghold as soon as the First Taranaki War ended. Gore Brown made the mistake of liberalising trade in weapons and ammunition for sporting purposes and so Waikato Maori bought up large supplies of muskets and gunpowder. Later Maori claimed this was to defend themselves against other tribes, not to attack Europeans. Preparations were suspended for a while when he was replaced by Sir George Grey, returning for a second term as governor, but were resumed a few months later.