Steam navigation companies on the Magdalena River during the 19th century.

Abstract

Companies of steam navigation on the Magdalena River in the nineteenth century led to begin a period of success and failures in the economic development of river. Located firms were highlighted in Barranquilla and Santa Marta with commercial and international banking connections, that participated in the founding and consolidation of steam navigation. The commercial capital of powers established a system where the majority of investors and a large part of human capital from abroad, hence, external relations, economic and cultural confidence, which guaranteed access to human capital and financial were a key factor in obtaining success in this sector. There was diversity of organizational structures, because a lot of companies trying to exploit the only water route connecting the Andean Colombia to the Caribbean, however, from the second half of the nineteenth century, the small company was increasingly common, imposing large corporations, affiliated companies import and export port. The overall strategy of the shipping companies was in absolute control of the river, ie, elimination of economic rivalry. Positive effect of steam navigation were the piers where they were warehouses for the storage of goods. Steam navigation experiment durability visible progress in the second half of the nineteenth century, thanks to the extension of navigable sections, regular traffic and cheaper transport