Blog Three- A Comparison of Countries

The various events that occurred in Australia, New Zealand, and the United States over the course of their histories shows that countries can develop very differently, yet also enforces the fact that history repeats itself. There are aspects of history that unavoidably happen over and over again, which shows up in the different events that occurred in Australia, New Zealand, and America.

There are many similarities between the events that happened in the histories of Australia, New Zealand, and the United States. All three countries were under the control of Great Britain, and were colonies of England prior to each country earning their independence. The three countries shared the similarity that although they were all British colonies, a different nation was the first from Europe to go to these countries. "The first European to visit Australia was Dutch explorer Willem Janszoon." "The first to explore New Zealand was Dutch explorer Abel Tasman." And finally, "the first Europeans to go to America were the Vikings in the 11th century." (wikipedia). All three of these countries were also struck by a gold rush around the same time, the mid-1800s. In 1849, "a gold rush struck America that caused people from around the world to flock to California." (The California Gold Rush-book). Similarly, in 1851 a gold rush began in Australia that caused similar effects, and happened to New Zealand in the 1860s. Following their calls for Independence, these three countries established democratic governments to break away from the monarchial ways of Great Britain. In both Australia and the United States, various suffrage movements also made it so that the natives, Native Americans in the United States and the Aborigines in Australia, were given more rights and were granted their land back. "The Indian Reorganization Act, or Indian New Deal, returned land and made it so it would be governed by the Natives in America." (Historical Civilizations-book). In Australia, the Aboriginal Land Rights Act granted similar rights, that the Aborigines would be able to have control over their natural lands. The histories of New Zealand, America, and Australia had many similarities in their political and social histories.

The United States Gold Rush

The Australian Gold Rush

These three countries' histories also display however that there were significant differences between the histories of these nations. Colonies in Australia and New Zealand were not established by Britain until after the loss of America, which could possibly have been in response to Britain's losses. "Australia was initially used as a prison colony for England, whereas America was established to be a source of economic prosperity." (wikipedia). Also, when Australia and New Zealand declared independence, they still had small British influences within the country. Following America's declaration, British influence was permanently expelled from the nation. Britain and New Zealand also signed a treaty, making New Zealand a colony in return for protection. On the contrary, America and Australia were colonies in which the natives put up little resistance to the initial settlements by the British, and Britain gained the land for its own benefit. A final difference between the three countries was the purpose for their settlement by Britain. England settled America for its own political and economic gains to increase its position in the world's power rankings. Australia was initially used for a prison colony, and did not become a colony for Britain to inhabit until later. New Zealand started off as just another country that Britain had established trade relations with, but in time Britain exploited the island nation and made it a colony. These three countries, though they had similarities with their history, also proved to have major differences.

                     

The United States, Australia, and New Zealand had unique aspects in their histories that made them distinguished from the pasts of other nations. They shared similarities among how they were ruled and their treatments of the native peoples, yet were established for different purposes and had different levels of outside influences. These three nations prove to perfection the ability for countries to be both similar and different at the same time.