Blog 1 - Timelines.

          At first glance, it is impossible to know the background of a country. At further inspection, one may find that it has a lot more in common with a person's own country than previously suspected. Such is the case between Australia, New Zealand, and the United States.
          For starters, both Australia and the United States were colonized and settled by the British during the eighteenth century. The six colonies of Australia can be compared to the thirteen established in the US. The colonies of Australia later forming to establish a democracy in 1901 is also similar to that formed in under the American Declaration of Independence in 1776. A major difference between the two countries can be seen by the different amounts of time taken to achieve independence as well as a democracy within each nation. While the United States was able to break free from British rule within the same century as having been colonized, the six colonies of Australia took nearly 150 more years. Australia also continued to "pay allegiance" to Great Britain despite their creation of a Commonwealth (thefreedictionary.com). As far as the settlement of the three countries, another similarity can be found between New Zealand and the United States. English Captain James Cook visited New Zealand in 1769, his voyages inspriring other Europeans to travel to the intriguing country. Christopher Columbus sailed to the Americas in 1492, encouraging others to settle in this newfound land, and beginning the exploitation of natives that would be seen in many countries on many continents throughout history (en.wikipedia.org). Although the two men made their voyages at different points, they have both been credited as the explorers who brought about settlement in either country, despite not actually having discovered these lands themselves.

          The discovery of gold played a major economic role in all three countries, showing how greed transfers to be a worldwide trait. Gold rushes in New Zealand, Australia, and the USA occurred relatively around the same time, the mid-1800s. The NZ rush sprouted after the discovery of gold in Tuapeka, while the American gold rush began in California; both sent hundreds of thousands of people flocking to these areas in an attempt to get rich quick (en.wikipedia.org). The Australian gold rush was spearheaded by Edward Hargraves, who noticed the similarities between the geological features of Australia and California, and set out looking for gold once he realized that his observations proved to be correct (cultureandrecreation.gov.au).

          Outbreaks of war in both New Zealand and America showcase another similarity between the origins of the countries. The American Revolution consisted of a series of battles fought between the colonists and British for independence. A similar case, the native Maoris fought European settlers for nearly a decade in an attempt to gain back their homeland. On the contrary, Europeans did not up and leave New Zealand, as the British left American colonists alone for the most part after the revolution. However, in 1947 NZ gained independence from Britain, and the multiple cultures in both countries are able to live in peace today.


Australian Aborigines, who sought equality and fairness.



          Both Australia and the United States experienced segregation problems and an unequal distribution of rights. In 1962, Aborigines in Australia were granted the right to vote, and in 1967 they were considered citizens. Granted, these were the natives of the country, and they were just now gaining these rights that should have never been stripped of them in the first place. Going on during this same time period was the Civil Rights Movement in the United States. In 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his famous "I Have a Dream" speech, one of the most influential and thought-provoking in history (pbs.org). He stressed his dreams of someday living in a country where all men were treated equally. These thoughts were shared not only by African-Americans in the US but also by Australian Aborigines, both calling for equal rights.

          In order to fully appreciate another culture, I feel that it is essential to educate oneself in the similarities between this new country and one's own, and also to learn the differences in order to obtain complete understanding of the place, the people, and their struggles.