When one thinks about Australia, New Zealand, or even the United States... they almost automatically think of how different they are, mostly because of the their location in the world... However, even though these countries may be a million miles apart, or probably even more, it doesn't make a difference of how similar they may be! Or different...
Australia, New Zealand, and the United States are completely different places and have different atmospheres, but in a way, they share the same ideas, cultures, and especially history, no matter how close or apart they may be!Nowadays, these three countries have different cultures when it comes to people and their heritage, but when you look at it from a historical perspective, they all share almost exactly, somewhat different, history!
By the late eighteenth century, all three countries were settled by the English. Great Britain claimed Australia, an English explorer made his first of three voyages to the islands of New Zealand, and a "strip of land along the eastern seacoast was settled primarily by English colonists" in the United States (wikipedia.org 1). At the time, Great Britain was trying to dominate and settle as many colonies or countries as possible, so it's not surprising... Plus, all three countries had native people settle on the land, even BEFORE the British did! Aborigines in Australia, the Maori in New Zealand, and Native Americans in the United States.... (america.gov)
Shortly after these settlements, all three countries found gold somewhere in the country and an immediate gold rush was induced. By the end of the nineteenth century, entire settlements and groups of people rushed to the place where gold was found! Southern Australia, Tuapeka, and California were the main locations for gold-seekers. A lot was happening, everyone trying to find as much as they could in order to get wealthy; however, the actual amount of gold found wasn't very much... 
At the same time, in all three countries, the original settlers gained their independence and had the right on claims for their lands. It was a legal turning point for the Aborigines when the Aboriginal Land Rights Act was passed in 1976, the Maori were guaranteed possession of their lands with the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, and the Indian Citizenship Act gave citizenship and righteousness of land to the Native Americans in 1924 (wikipedia.org 3). These were just some of the similarities found in the history of these three countries, but there are also some main differences. While the Aborigines didn't declare any type of war against the original Australian settlers (the British), the Maori people did so on the English, as well as the United States.Not only that, but Australia was originally formed as a prison colony, holding convicts that weren't able to fit in other British colonies. On the other hand, New Zealand was a place for convicts to go when they escaped Australia, either by whaling or sealing (convictcreations.com). These two countries seemed very apart at the time being.
As you can see, there are many similarities and some differences that occurred in the history of Australia, New Zealand, as well as the United States!If you actually think about it, these countries aren't that far apart when it comes to history...
But when you think of the distance in miles from one to another, that's a WHOLE different story!
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Great Blog! You made excellent comparisons and pointed out very interesting examples of common events that have affected both countries. Your comparison in the way the countries progressed in similar ways was great. You also had great pics!
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