A SMALL WINDOW INTO A LARGER WORLD: INLAND PORTS, TRADE, AND STATE-BUILDING IN URUGUAY (1860-1918)

Abstract

This paper intends to analyze the role of inland ports and waterways in Uruguay from 1860until 1918. The main idea is to understand how the country’s ports have shaped its economiclife during what has been called «The First Age of Globalization». During these years ofpolitical turmoil, the process of state-building in Uruguay was intrinsically connected to itsability to trade with its neighbors and European allies. Therefore, the maritime trade analysisin the South Atlantic Ocean and Uruguay’s place can reveal how the country establisheditself as an independent state and a thriving trade economy by the early 20th century.