The Panic of 1837 was a much more intense economic crisis for the country than the one that occurred the year of Melville's birth. An economic bubble that had led to quick money at the expense of long-term stability had finally popped with severe results. Those heavily in debt were ruined, and a five-year depression ensued. Countless banks and factories went under, and working-class families found themselves out on the street.
Melville bounced around searching for work during these years. He was unhappy in a teaching post in a remote mountain town because of his aversion to corporal punishment and disappointment in his rowdy and undisciplined students. He quit within a year. Upon returning to Albany, he joined the Young Men's Association, where he revealed a knack for satire and puns during a run for president. In 1838 he enrolled in engineering school in order to enter a profession that guaranteed steady work and a living wage. He preferred writing for the local papers, however, and eventually gave up on becoming an engineer, deciding that officework was sheer drudgery.
His next two adventures caused him to view his mother's complaints as self-indulgent. He made a voyage as a cabin boy, and when his ship docked in Liverpool, he was appalled by the poverty he witnessed and the large gap between rich and poor. He then headed west in search of work, taking in wigwams and buffalo on his journey, and noting how the rugged frontier women had to struggle to survive.
He liked to scandalize people during this period by looking like a "savage" with his long hair and beard.
His journey West proving no more fruitful in terms of employment, in 1840 Melville signed aboard a whaler. He desired to escape both his mother's nagging and his demoralizing job search along with his romantic frustration.
By the mid-1840s, whaling crews were primarily comprised of outcasts, and capturing and killing a whale was a dirty and dangerous job. Once a whale was harpooned, crews had to brace themselves for a breakneck careen through powerful waves that could last for hours. Eventually all the captures would be brought back to the boat so the men could strip away the skin and blubber and scoop out the spermaceti, a wax substance used in making candles. This process involved sliding around in vomit, feces, oil, and blood. Nevertheless, Melville loved being outdoors and enjoyed the time he spent climbing the ship's rigging and basking in the wind and sun.
Eventually Melville jumped ship with a friend in Polynesia. Although he found Polynesia to be a paradise of sensual pleasures, he did wonder occasionally if he was amongst cannibals. Next he boarded an Australian whaler, joined rioters, and got himself locked up in a makeshift jail in Tahiti. He was free to roam during the day and was sad to discover that white invaders had destroyed the Tahitian culture.
After his island adventures, Melville joined the crew of the USS United States, a naval frigate. He was enraged by flogging, thought naval regulations were needlessly inflexible, and developed a lifelong hatred for the entire officer class. He feared the effect militaristic colonialism would have on democracy.
Melville returned from the Pacific just in time for the predicted end of the world, October 1843. Upon arriving home, he had to readjust to being treated like a child by his mother.
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