[lbo-talk] History, necessity and the New Zealand Wars

[James Heartfield]

As I read it, the Governor Grey flip-flopped between supporting Maori land-rights as a limit on settler expansion at first, then shifting ground to attack the Maori the next. The British position was for many years very ambiguous, and the British army reluctant to back the settlers' campaign against the Maori. One of Grey's campaigns was to prevent Maori from selling land to settlers, which they were often keen to do, only later to make the greatest purchases as Governor. I agree that Trotter's argument that if the English settlers had not taken the land, others would is a bit of a red herring, but Scott ought to explain why it was that the Governor, and the Crown were willing to endorse Maori land-rights: if he did, I think he would discover that the colonial office was often in conflict with the settlers over the terms and pace of settlement

Mike Beggs wrote: "My friend Scott (the guy with the EP Thompson book coming out) has just written a great essay on Marx, progress, empire etc. with reference to the NZ wars between crown and Maori. Very relevant to the talk here re: Marx, India and the US civil war. 
http://readingthemaps.blogspot.com/2010/04/history-necessity-and-new-zealand-wars.html "