Nineteenth-Century Chile, 1830–1891

After the political conflicts that followed independence, Chile developed a centralised conservative republic under the constitutional settlement of 1833. Valparaíso became a major Pacific port, mining and agriculture supported export growth, and commercial links tied Chile to Britain, California and the wider Atlantic economy. Political participation remained narrow and social hierarchy was pronounced.

Liberal reform expanded during the later nineteenth century, but conflicts over church, education, regional power and presidential authority continued. Territorial expansion in the south and the War of the Pacific altered the state’s resources and boundaries. By the presidency of José Manuel Balmaceda, disputes between the executive and Congress had become severe enough to produce civil war.

Daughter of Fortune and Portrait in Sepia use this period for migration, family formation, memory and the movement between Valparaíso, Santiago and California. My Name Is Emilia del Valle returns to Chile at the century’s end, linking journalism and personal identity to the breakdown of the political settlement in 1891.