Herman Melville was born in New York City in 1819. Because of his family's financial instability, Melville was forced to go to work at an early age. After a variety of jobs, Melville signed onto a whaling ship at age twenty. Through this employment he learned firsthand about the rigors and rewards of the burgeoning whaling industry, gaining experience that he would later apply in the writing of his mid-nineteenth- century novel Moby Dick.
An expanding nation. The first half of the nineteenth century was an important time in the development of the United States. In the War of 1812, the country had succeeded in defending its borders against the British. This victory created a strong new sense of patriotism among Americans, and the country finally began to form a solid identity completely separate from its European roots. To maintain this new identity, it became necessary to keep the foreign powers at bay. American leaders realized that the best way to deter aggression was to expand and strengthen the nation from the inside. In 1816 trade barriers were erected to promote domestic industry and keep foreign products from American markets.
This page contains 201 words.
Moby Dick article
Read the rest of this article.
This article contains 3,384 words
(approx. 11 pages at 300 words per page).
Order our Moby-Dick Article
