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America and the Pacific : The view from the beach
Fullagar, Katharine Elizabeth
Fullagar, Katharine Elizabeth
Abstract
By the time Herman Melville introduced American readers to Queequeg, the Polynesian harpooner in Moby Dick (1851), Pacific Islanders were an established presence in many maritime centers of the continent. They made up to 20 percent of the entire United States whaling fleet, most of them present on the west coast but with substantial numbers living around Melville’s own east coast environs. Hawaiians alone constituted one tenth of the population of San Francisco. Equally significant, by the middle of the nineteenth century up to 10 percent of some Pacific Island communities had experienced voyaging to American shores. Islanders’ adventures to the far eastern rim of the Pacific world were extensions of the seagoing spirit that had birthed their various societies in the first place.
Keywords
Date
2021
Type
Book chapter
Journal
Book
The Cambridge history of America and the world : volume 1 : 1500-1820
Volume
Issue
Page Range
357-378
Article Number
ACU Department
Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences
Faculty of Education and Arts
Faculty of Education and Arts
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Open Access Status
License
All rights reserved
File Access
Controlled