Economy and enterprise in Arequipa at the start of the Republic, 1825-1850

Abstract

Historiographical production around Arequipa’s economy in the nineteenth century presents a well-known and commonplace scenario: a crisis in the wine industry and the rise of wool exports. However, since there is no real continuity between these two periods, decades of personal and collective efforts—public and private, domestic and foreign—made with the aim of countering the intricate economic situation of our early Republic have been overlooked. In this regard, using first-hand information, obtained mainly from notarial records, this research seeks first, to understand the regional economic situation during the initial decades of independence; and second, to ascertain the business fabric, and the forms of partnerships or companies that werestructured in Arequipa during those difficult early years of our Republic.