ABSTRACT
This chapter details how the region approached production during a period of export-oriented growth (1870–1930). The period saw increased production, the beginning of industrialization, and increased urbanization, but unequal distribution of those gains. Global demand for Latin American agricultural and mining commodities saw countries specialize in one to three export products and important land, labor, and capital transitions. On the labor side, Brazil and Cuba took steps toward abolition in 1888, and the region transitioned toward wage labor. Immigrants, many of whom were European, moved to the Southern Cone seeking opportunity. Migrants and small farmers marginalized by large landowners and governments became peons or migrated to cities. As nations sought to expand export and domestic markets, they looked to finance large-scale projects. South America, particularly the Southern Cone, proved attractive to European investors emerging from the 1873 Depression. Investors worked alongside technocrats and national industrialists to expand railroads and provide public works. World War I, thus, served as a significant disruption to the trans-Atlantic flow of people and capital.
