Steamships across the Pacific
Maritime Journeys between Mexico, China, and Japan, 1867–1914
9789888876761
Distributed for Hong Kong University Press
Steamships across the Pacific
Maritime Journeys between Mexico, China, and Japan, 1867–1914
A unique investigation of the transpacific steam network of Mexico, Britain, China, and Japan.
During the nineteenth century, the Trans-Pacific world underwent a profound transformation due to the transition from sail to steam navigation that was accompanied by a reconfiguration of power. Steamships across the Pacific explores how diverse Mexican, British, Chinese, and Japanese interests participated, particularly during Porfirio Díaz’s presidency at the peak of Mexico’s participation, in the steam network. It investigates this network in its 1860s outset through a time of many revolutionary changes, including the World War, the Mexican Revolution, the opening of the Panama Canal, and the introduction of a new maritime technology—vessels run by oil. These transoceanic exchanges, generated within these new geographies of power, contributed not only to the formation of a Trans-Pacific region but also to the refashioning of the Mexican national imaginary.
With transnationalism, global, and migration studies as its main frameworks, this study draws upon a dazzling array of primary sources to center Mexico’s Trans-Pacific relations and the influence they wielded over the region at the height of the steamship period.
During the nineteenth century, the Trans-Pacific world underwent a profound transformation due to the transition from sail to steam navigation that was accompanied by a reconfiguration of power. Steamships across the Pacific explores how diverse Mexican, British, Chinese, and Japanese interests participated, particularly during Porfirio Díaz’s presidency at the peak of Mexico’s participation, in the steam network. It investigates this network in its 1860s outset through a time of many revolutionary changes, including the World War, the Mexican Revolution, the opening of the Panama Canal, and the introduction of a new maritime technology—vessels run by oil. These transoceanic exchanges, generated within these new geographies of power, contributed not only to the formation of a Trans-Pacific region but also to the refashioning of the Mexican national imaginary.
With transnationalism, global, and migration studies as its main frameworks, this study draws upon a dazzling array of primary sources to center Mexico’s Trans-Pacific relations and the influence they wielded over the region at the height of the steamship period.
Table of Contents
List of Maps viii
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction 1
1. San Pedro, 1565 / Colorado, 1867: From Sail to Steam 15
2. Vasco de Gama, 1874: A Space Odyssey 40
3. Mount Lebanon, 1884: Navigating in Britain’s Diplomatic Waters 65
4. Gaelic, 1897: The Japanese Colonization Project in Mexico 87
5. Suisang, 1908: Double Vision—Chinese Migrants and the Body of the
Nation 110
6. Ancon, 1914: Revolutions and the End of the Porfirian Transpacific
System 139
Conclusion 169
Bibliography 173
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction 1
1. San Pedro, 1565 / Colorado, 1867: From Sail to Steam 15
2. Vasco de Gama, 1874: A Space Odyssey 40
3. Mount Lebanon, 1884: Navigating in Britain’s Diplomatic Waters 65
4. Gaelic, 1897: The Japanese Colonization Project in Mexico 87
5. Suisang, 1908: Double Vision—Chinese Migrants and the Body of the
Nation 110
6. Ancon, 1914: Revolutions and the End of the Porfirian Transpacific
System 139
Conclusion 169
Bibliography 173