ABSTRACT
This chapter offers a clearer conceptualization of the Pacific as a unit of analysis and an attempt at periodization of Pacific history from the sixteenth through the nineteenth centuries. From the mid-sixteenth century to the mid-eighteenth century, the exchange of Peruvian and Mexican silver for Chinese exports dominated the trans-Pacific commercial world. Since the oceanic islands are all volcanic, today's emphasis on the 'Rim' - and de-emphasis of Pacific islands - indeed makes little sense in terms of geology or history. Between the end of the 'silver period' in the mid-eighteenth century and initiation of a 'gold period' in the mid-nineteenth century, intensified exploration combined with new commercial opportunities to yield further integration of the Pacific region. The US Pacific coast differs from its Atlantic coast counterpart in that the Pacific contains few natural harbors in comparison with the abundance of harbors along the Atlantic coast.
