Nuts & Bolts of Informal Empire: Victorian Engineering Enterprise in South America

Iberoamerica lost its Spanish and Portuguese yokes in the 1820s, igniting interest in Europe and the USA. This talk sketches the ‘opening up’ of the continent for its minerals and agricultural potential, as a market for infrastructure and manufactures and a destination for immigrants. The focus will be on the cornucopia of the industrial revolution’s goods and services that brought vast territories into the 20th century with infrastructure and debt.

Image credit: Dom Pedro II iron bridge at Cachoeira built by British engineers. In the background, the baroque church of Deus Menino, São Félix do Paraguaçú, Bahia, Brazil (courtesy Pedro Guedes).jpg