by Herman Melville

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.

Events in History at the Time the Novel Takes Place

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...