Fairness and Freedom Books by the Author Champlain’s Dream Liberty and Freedom Washington’s Crossing Bound Away (with James Kelly) The Great Wave Paul Revere’s Ride Albion’s Seed Growing Old in America Historians’ Fallacies The Revolution of American Conservatism FAIRNESS AND FREEDOM A History of Two Open Societies, New Zealand and the United States DAVID HACKETT FISCHER 3 Oxford University Press, Inc., publishes works that further Oxford University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education. Oxford New York Auckland Cape Town Dar es Salaam Hong Kong Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Nairobi New Delhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto With offi ces in Argentina Austria Brazil Chile Czech Republic France Greece Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore South Korea Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam Copyright © 2012 by David Hackett Fischer Published by Oxford University Press, Inc. 198 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016 www.oup.com Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of Oxford University Press. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Fischer, David Hackett, 1935– Fairness and freedom : a history of two open societies : New Zealand and the United States / David Hackett Fischer. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-19-983270-5 1. United States—Politics and government—Philosophy. 2. Political culture—United States—History. 3. Democracy—United States—History. 4. Individualism—Political aspects—United States. 5. New Zealand—Politics and government—Philosophy. 6. Political culture—New Zealand—History. 7. Democracy—New Zealand—History. 8. Individualism—Political aspects—New Zealand. 9. Comparative government. I. Title. E183.F55 2011 973—dc23 2011037520 1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2 Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper For Friends and Colleagues in New Zealand Tom Brooking Raewyn Dalziel Peter Gibbons Jeanine Graham Erik Olssen Jock Phillips And for the Memory of Rollo Arnold This page intentionally left blank CONTENTS PREFACE Two Americans in New Zealand ix INTRODUCTION Fairness and Freedom 3 ORIGINS OF OPEN SOCIETIES Settler Societies 31 Two British Empires 68 Indians and Maori 95 Frontier and Bush 139 NATION BUILDING AS OPEN PROCESSES Federalists and Centralists 173 Immigrants, Voluntary and Assisted 205 Women’s Rights 228 Racist Wrongs 263 Lib-Labs and Progressives 296 OPEN SOCIETIES IN WORLD AFFAIRS Foreign Affairs, External Relations 333 Great Crash and Long Slump 368 Military Traditions 407 World Crisis 444 CONCLUSION Learning to Be Free and Fair 475 APPENDIX Fairness in Other Disciplines 495 Notes 507 List of Maps 576 List of Illustrations 580 A cknowledgments 589 Index 593 This page intentionally left blank PREFACE Two Americans in New Zealand My greatest trouble is going to be to avoid getting a reputation of being a Munchausen by simply telling the truth about you. —American writer Henry Demarest Lloyd, on visiting New Zealand, 1899 F ROM BOSTON TO DUNEDIN we were twenty-two hours in the air. The total distance, going and coming, exceeded the circumference of the earth. The change of time zones was sev- enteen hours—more than to any other nation. By every measure, it was a long trip. It was also a great adventure. Our travels began in 1994, with an invitation from Raewyn Dalziel to talk in Auckland about my book Albion’s Seed . Other invitations followed from universities in Dune- din, Christchurch, Wellington, and Hamilton. We had never been to New Zealand and leaped at the opportunity. Between events we rented cars, visited every region within reach (all but Southland and Nelson), and met many New Zealanders. The result was a journey of about a month, through much of the country. The following year brought more extended appointments at Otago University on the South Island and Waikato University in the North. My wife is a biologist and botanist, and I am an historian. We botanized and historicized together on both islands. To explore a country for the fi rst time is not only to discover a new place. It is also to see one’s own country and the world itself in a new light. The result is this book.