From the lower gangway, merchandise arriving at the dock was unloaded and carried on shoulders to the wagons waiting at the port entrance. These would then be transported to warehouses owned by the large trading companies that had established themselves in that prosperous city.
It was one of the most important ports in the Caribbean where manufactured goods arrived as a consequence of the European Industrial Revolution, especially from England, which had replaced the commercial monopoly of Spain since much of Latin America had achieved independence. Despite some vain efforts at industrialization and self-sufficiency, South America continued to depend on surplus products that were shipped from Europe and, to a lesser extent, from the United States.
Along with the merchandise, all kinds of
