Crew members aboard the ship Eliza Frances, during their Pacific expedition, stumbled upon Jarvis Island on August 21, 1821. Located in the central Pacific Ocean, this small, uninhabited island is part of the Phoenix Islands group and was named after the ship. The crew's encounter with Jarvis Island was part of a broader trend of maritime exploration driven by curiosity, trade ambitions, and the search for new resources during this period. The presence of such islands shaped navigational charts and influenced shipping routes in the Pacific, opening up opportunities for future exploration and exploitation.

As the crew documented their find, they began to understand the significance of such discoveries in enhancing maritime maps, which were essential for naval navigation and commerce. The expedition highlighted early 19th-century maritime efforts that aimed to unveil the hidden swathes of the Earth largely unknown to European explorers until then. Jarvis Island was not only an important geographical find but also indicated the increasing interest of Western nations to claim and utilize remote islands through burgeoning imperial ambitions.

In the years following the discovery, Jarvis Island saw an influx of attention, particularly from the United States, which claimed it in the 1850s under the Guano Islands Act. The significance of the island for guano extraction changed its status forever, allowing the U.S. to capitalize on its natural resources. The finding of Jarvis Island thus represents the intersection of discovery, natural resource exploitation, and imperialism that characterized the era of exploration well into the 19th century.