Finding the Pacific World

Defining the Pacific for historical scholarship has presented particular challenges. This article argues that it is possible to define the "Pacific World" as a temporal and geographical category during the period ca. 1770–1941. This period witnessed a philosophical and cultural consciousness of the Pacific, as demonstrated by trade, cultural connections, and deliberate international affiliation based on shared Pacific location. The idea that there was indeed a Pacific World, in a specific historical period, then offers a starting point for closer analysis of the networks that existed within it.