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| title | chunk | source | category | tags | date_saved | instance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1840 Fiji expedition | 13/13 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1840_Fiji_expedition | reference | science, encyclopedia | 2026-05-05T13:25:29.163462+00:00 | kb-cron |
=== Rise of the Beachcombers === For his political, translation, and informative aid in the expedition Wilkes made David Whippey the temporary consul of the United States in Fiji. Later, a more formal consul named John B. Williams was made the consul. However, with Wilkes' recommendation Secretary of State John C. Calhoun appointed him to vice consul of Fiji. According to Dr. Nancy Shoemaker, she theorizes the combination of the Fijians newfound fear of retribution for attacks against Westerners following the attacks of the Ex. Ex.. combined with Whippey's new position of power provided a lasting impact on Fiji. In that vein of thought, Shoemaker points out that Whippey's new found power complemented his unofficial title as chief of the white men/beachcombers of Levuka and the Royal Messenger of Bau village. With this fusion of power came a desire for autonomy for both Whippey and the white beachcombers he represented. Traditionally, the beachcombers were compelled to fight for whichever local chief had them under employment. However, when chief Cakobau of Bau called them up to aid in him waging war against Cakaudrove at Somosomo, the beachcombers refused. They claimed they wished to protect their property. Cakobau became incensed, and was even more so after he lost the war against Cakaudrove. However, Cakobau was left in a bind. He feared that directly punishing Whippey and his beachcombers might bring down the wrath of the United States or another western power. Instead his punishment of the beachcombers was indirect and subtle. He encouraged other tribes under his domain to steal the beachcombers polygamous wives. He later demanded greater tributes from them and sent arsonists to burn down their homes. The situation became exasperated when in 1843, the beachcombers refused to participate in the Bau–Rewa war. This time Cakobau exiled the whites and their mixed-race children to Bua and near the village of Solevu that was destroyed by the Ex. Ex.. However, by 1849, Cakobau allowed the beachcombers to return to Levuka. Trade in Levuka had suffered since the exile. The beachcombers were all to often, the most reliable middlemen traders for Fijians and the trade ships that came through Fiji. To Cakobau's dismay upon the beachcombers return they began to dominate all foreign trade to the exclusion of Cakobau and the Fijian people as a whole. The beachcombers under Whippey began defending themselves against small skirmishes or arsons as advanced by Cakobau. At this point beachcombers like Whippey, and their mixed families, had begun to transcend from being middleman minorities to autonomous settlers. The beachcombers at Levuka and elsewhere gradually made moves to separate themselves from the Fijian populace and became a semi independent military and trading power. The British would later capitalize upon this development, when they took ownership of it in 1874 and made Levuka its first capital. However, according to Shoemaker, it was the Ex. Ex.'s precedent for protection and subsequent retaliation for harm against whites that began the beachcombers move towards autonomy and the later British take over of the islands.
=== Legacy === The Ex. Ex. taken as a whole led to several lasting scientific revelations, explorative discoveries, and historical preservations that continue to endure to today. The Fiji expedition was no exception. The Fiji expeditions artifacts contributed to the earliest collections for the National Institute for the Promotion of Science, the precursor to what would become the Smithsonian Institution. In addition to the cannibalized skull and the skull of chief Veidovi, an assortment of Fijian weapons had been procured for future display at the institute. Wilkes names the Ringgold Isles after Lieutenant Cadwalader Ringgold. Numerous botanical samples were also obtained from Fiji and other lands the Ex. Ex. surveyed, and were placed in the United States Botanic Garden or the Smithsonian Gardens. Dried plant specimens comprised the core of what is now the National Herbarium, an herbarium curated by the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History. The Fiji Expedition was also not without its merits, for its contributions to science. As mentioned previously, Horatio Hale documented 5,600 words in the Fiji language as well as other information of anthological and cultural importance. Through his studies he produced the book Ethnography and Philology (1846), which is said to have laid the foundations of the ethnography of Polynesia, including Fiji. He is often cited as the Father of Polynesian ethnology. Moreover, the scientists Charles Pickering, William Brackenridge, and William Rich, collectively brought over 50,000 specimens of 10,000 species. And of the 241 charts that were created during the Ex. Ex. there was included the first ever complete chart of Fiji.
== See also == European and American voyages of scientific exploration 1855 Fiji expedition 1858 Fiji expedition
== Notes ==
== References ==