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| 1863 |
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| Opening of first railroad (Christchurch to Fernymead). | 1 |
| Government forces invaded the Waikato territory of the Maori king. Despite a series of battles that were either victories for the Maori or ambiguous in their outcome, the Waikato was annexed. The Maori king movement retreated to the central North Island, where it passively resisted government domination until the 1890s. | 2 |
| The government instituted punitive legislation to CONFISCATE LARGE AREAS OF MAORI LAND. Land was taken from Maori who had been on the side of the Europeans as well as from the “rebels,” adding to the sense of injustice. Confiscation of land has remained a major source of political discontent into the 1990s. | 3 |
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| 1864 |
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| The war extended to the eastern part of the North Island. The British were heavily defeated at Gate Pa. Pai Marire became involved in the war, which shifted into a guerrilla phase. | 4 |
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| 1865 |
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| The Native Land Court was established, accelerating the alienation of Maori land in the second half of the 19th century. By 1892 most of the good land was in European hands. The Native Rights Act affirmed that the Maori were British subjects, thus denying their sovereignty, and allowing those involved in the war to be treated as rebels rather than as an enemy foreign power. The act also laid the foundations for Maori male franchise and the establishment of four Maori parliamentary seats. A second gold rush occurred, this time on the west coast of the South Island. The capital was transferred from Auckland to Wellington. | 5 |
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| 1867 |
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| The first members of Parliament elected to the four Maori seats. These seats have remained into the 1990s. Separate Maori schools were established to facilitate the assimilation of Maori into Pakeha (European) society. The use of Maori language in schools was prohibited in 1871. | 6 |
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| 1868 |
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| Titokowaru and Te Kooti waged guerrilla campaigns in different parts of the central North Island. | 7 |
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| 1870 |
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| The last British troops were withdrawn from New Zealand, after which the war was prosecuted by the colonial government. Hostilities ceased in 1872. | 8 |
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| 1871 |
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| The first of a series of large government loans was initiated by Julius Vogel, the colonial treasurer. Money continued to be borrowed through the 1870s for the development of roads, railways, and other public works. European settlement increased steadily through this period. In the 1870s Maori leaders like Paora Tuhaere and Henare Matua sought redress for unjust land deals and called for greater Maori political participation. Maori led unsuccessful deputations to Queen Victoria to protest violations of the Treaty of Waitangi. | 9 |
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| 1876 |
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| Abolition of provincial governments, putting New Zealand under one government. | 10 |
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| 1877 |
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| Primary schooling made compulsory. | 11 |
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| 1879 |
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| Residence replaced property ownership as the criterion for male suffrage. | 12 |
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| 1881 |
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| Government troops destroyed the passive land protest movement of Maori leaders Te Whiti and Tohu based in the village of Parihaka. | 13 |
| Chinese Immigrant Act restricted access. | 14 |
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| 1882 |
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| The first shipment of frozen meat to Britain heralded a new age of export. Factory-based production of dairy produce also strengthened the agricultural economy. | 15 |
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