The English text of the Treaty of Waitangi / Ned Fletcher.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction: Understandings of the Treaty -- PART I: The British Empire -- 1. Governing Empire -- 2. Ethics of Empire -- 3. British sovereignty and native government: Canada and Australia -- 4. British sovereignty and native government: Other territories -- 5. British sovereignty and native land -- 6. The Colonial Office -- PART II: The path to British intervention in New Zealand -- 7. New Zealand, 1769-1832 -- 8. The British Resident arrives, 1833 -- 9. A dependency 'in everything but the name' -- 10. Busby's ideas for government -- 11. Verdicts on Busby's residency -- 12. Debates about colonisation -- 13. Political manoeuvres -- 14. The Colonial Office acts -- PART III: Making a Treaty -- 15 The Consul -- 16. Normanby's instructions to Hobson -- 17. Sydney interlude, December 1839-January 1840 -- 18. Drafting the Treaty -- 19. Signing the Treaty -- PART IV: Contesting the Treaty -- 20. Waiting for the Treaty: Sydney -- 21. American precedents -- 22. Waiting for the Treaty: London -- 23. The Land Claims Act 1840 -- 24. Responses to the Act -- 25. The Treaty under attack -- 26. Shifting ground: The undermining of Maori property rights -- 27. The Queen's sovereignty and Maori society after 1840 -- Conclusion: the meaning of the Treaty -- Appendices : 1. the Freeman draft -2. Busby's first draft -- 3. Busby's fair copy -- 4. Hobson's preamble -- Abbreviations -- Editorial note -- Bibliography -- Notes -- Index.

"The English Text of the Treaty of Waitangi emphasises that the original drafting of the Treaty by British officials in 1840 cannot be separated from the wider circumstances of that time. This context encompasses the history of British dealings with indigenous peoples throughout the Empire and the currents of thought in the mid-nineteenth century, a period of rapid change in society and knowledge. It also includes the backgrounds and motivations of those primarily responsible for framing the Treaty: British resident James Busby, Consul and future Lieutenant-Governor William Hobson, and Colonial Office official James Stephen.Through groundbreaking scholarship, Fletcher concludes that the Māori and English texts of the Treaty reconcile, and that those who framed the English text intended Māori to have continuing rights to self-government (rangatiratanga) and ownership of their lands. This original understanding of the Treaty, however, was then lost in the face of powerful forces in the British Empire post-1840, as hostility towards indigenous peoples grew alongside increased intolerance of plural systems of government."--Publisher's website.