Trade & Social Change

 

I. Polynesia

         A. Overview

                  1. violence & bloodshed

                           a) militaristic societies

                           b) dispute over property

                  2. trade transactions

                           a) hospitality & refreshment

                           b) metal & military goods

         B. Tahiti

                  1. Trade

                           a) breadfruit (1789 & 1792)

                                    -- BountyÓs captain = William Bligh

                                    -- mutiny --> settled on Pitcairn Island

                           b) pork (1801-1831)

                                    -- New South Wales

                  2. Changes = dependent on imported goods

         C. Extractive Trade

                  1. sandalwood

                           a) Fiji (1804-1816)

                                    -- Bua district of Vanua Levu

                           b) Marquesas (1815-1820)

                           c) Hawaii (1819-1829)

                                    -- unified by Kamehameha (1810)

                                    -- government monopoly (until 1819)

                  2. beche-de-mer

                           a) Fiji (1828-1850)

                           b) collection process

                  3. role of beachcombers

                           a) intermediaries

                           b) dependent on host

         D. Whaling (1820-1860)

                  1. pattern of voyages

                           a) via Cape Horn

                                    -- south-east Pacific

                                    -- north Pacific

                           b) via Cape of Good Hope

                                    -- south-west Pacific

                  2. Changes to society

                           a) presence of whalers

                           b) internal pattern of distribution

                           c) structures of authority

II. Melanesia

         A. Overview

                  1. contrast with Polynesia

                  2. violence & danger

         B. Sandalwood

                  1. New Hebrides (1825)

                           a) Erromanga

                                    -- BokiÕs 1829 voyage

                           b) Aneityum

                                    -- James Paddon (est. in 1844)

                  2. methods used

                           a) islanders

                                    -- ships attacked

                                    -- village activities

                           b) shipÕs crew harvest

                                    -- theft & costly

                           c) shore station

                                    -- Melanesian labor

                  3. sustained commerce --> change native demands

         C. ÒBlackbirdingÓ

                  1. ÒPeruvian slave tradeÓ (1862-1863)

                  2. Melanesian labor traffic

                           a) for plantations in Queensland

                           b) unpleasant reputation

                                    -- e.g. Carl (1871)

                           c) government regulation

                                    -- Polynesian Labourers Act (1868)

                                    -- Pacific Islanders Protection Act (1872)

                           d) an institution of Melanesian life

                                    -- attitude of islanders

                                    -- source of labor changes

                                    -- indigenous entrepreneurs

                                             e.g. Kwaisulia of Malaita

                  3. changes to society

                           a) personal experience abroad

                           b) availability of goods

                           c) development of Òpidgin-EnglishÓ

III. Micronesia

         A. Luxury trade with China

                  1. British East India Company (late 1700s)

                           a) Palau (1783)

                           b) Gilbert & Marshall (1791)

                  2. North American Fur Trade (early 1800s)

         B. Whaling (1830s & 1840s)

                  1. two resorts: Kosrae & Pohnpei

                  2. changes: contact vices & disease

  

  

  

Think/Write Question

Do you think the Pacific islanders were exploited by foreign traders or were they willing participants in commerce?