Hegemony or complementarity? The Valparaíso-Callao axis in the transpacific trade, 1830-1848

Abstract

This work proposes, from a Global History perspective, that understanding the trans-Pacific trade between South America and Asia in the first half of the 19th century requires understanding the ports of Valparaíso and Callao as complementary nodes in a port network, thereby challenging Valparaíso's hypothesized hegemony in the South American Pacific. By increasing the scale of analysis to include trade with Asia, it is evident that even the war between Chile and the Peruvian-Bolivian Confederation did not interrupt the complementarity of the markets on the South American Pacific coast. To test the hypothesis, the Trade Statistics of Chile are analyzed to evaluate the importance of bilateral trade in this period. The records of the Port Captaincies of Valparaíso and Callao are also reviewed to determine the number of vessels that passed through both ports before crossing the Pacific Ocean or upon return. Finally, two cases of commercial expeditions to China organized in South America are studied, one from Valparaíso and the other from Callao. In conclusion, it is demonstrated that complementarity between Valiparaíso and Callao was essential to the profitability of trans-Pacific trade.