Conservative Era

Conservative Era

• Governments: • Jose Joaquin Prieto 1831-1841• Manuel Bulnes 1841-1851• Manuel Montt 1851-1861

In 1831 Jose Joaquin Prieto was elected President and Diego Portales was proclaimes Minister of the Interior, Exterior and of War and The Sea.

• Prieto’s government carries out administrative reforms to reinforce the

authority and rebuild the economy.

• The Constitution of 1833 reflected many

conservative ideals. It was characterized as

presidential, authoritarian,

conservative and aristocratic.

• It gave some rights to the Congress:» Periodical Laws

• And some rights to the President:» Martial Laws

Economy

• The first thing to do was to organized public finances and to improve the minig and agriculture.

Trade in Valparaiso

• Valparaiso was one of the most important ports in the Pacific Ocean.

• In 1833 the commercial activity increased when the duty-free stores began opening.

Mining• This was the main economic activity during this

period.• Silver:

• It was used for coins.• Chañarcillo (Juan Godoy) in 1832

– Checo Grande (1847) and Tres Puntas (1848)

• Copper:• Very important since England required it for industry• Tamaya (Jose Tomas Urmeneta)

• Coal:• Very important for mines and for the transport .• Lota – Coronel (Cousiño, Schwager, Delano)

Agriculture• Gold was discovered in California and in

Australia and many people traveled there. • Where to get much food?

From Chile!!! Because Chile was the main producer of wheat in the South Pacific.

• This prosperity helped the chilean producers of landowners to introduce improvements in their production processes: irrigation channels.

Transport• It was a developed area

in this changing economy.

• Copiapó – Caldera : – Chile’s first railway. – This was the center of minning

production in the country. (1851)

– The Pacific Steam Navigation Company• William Wheelwright

(1840) made transport easier with faster ships.

Society

• Between 1820 and 1830 the social structure did not change.

• Society was organized in the following groups:• The Upper Class: Landowners, rich merchants and

industrial and mining groups.• The Middle Class: It was formed by profesionals and

European immigrants.• The Lower Class: Includes farmers and mining, port,

railway and public works workers.

Pictures of the Society

Cultural Development

• The conservative governments hired European educators, artist and scientists to teach in Chile and bring their knwoledge.

• 1842: -Universidad de Chile• 1888: - Universidad Católica created by the

Church to have professionals with a Christian vision.

• Generation of 1842: Their were chilean intellectuals. Its director, Jose Victorino Lastarria was 25 years old. (Very jung but an excelent intellectual man)

• Newspaper in Valparaiso (El Mercurio), El Ferrocarril, La República Through these media sources the country was informed.

Liberal Reforms

• The dominance of the Church in many areas of social life and de cultural progress provoked criticism of the way that the country was being ruled.

• Liberal Ideas were spreading!

• Reform Club (1849)• Society of Equality (1850)They defended a republic with free and equal citizens.

• Liberal governments: • Jose Joaquin Perez (1861-1871)• Federico Errázuriz Zañartu (1871-1876)• Anibal Pinto (1876-1881)• Domingo Santa Maria (1881-1886)• Jose Manuel Balmaceda (1886-1891)

– The government of Manuel Montt ended with a social uprising. As a result, José Joaquin Perez was elected and he was a liberal.

– To carry out the changes of the liberal vision, important revisions were made to the Constitution.

Secular Laws

• One of the chracteristics of liberalism was its rejection of the Church’s influence on public institutions.

• The government of Santa Maria approved a series of secular laws:– The secular cemetery law (1883)– Civil marriage law (1884)– Civil registration law (1884)