Economy & TradeThe 1860s

Economy & Trade in the 1860s

Every event in the Terralore archive tagged economy and trade — trade, currency, industry and resources, narrowed to the 1860s — 10 of them, drawn from 8 nations, running from 1860 to 1869. Each entry keeps the sources it was verified against and links back to the chronicle it came from.

Events
10
Nations
8
Earliest
1860
Latest
1869
Africa
5
North America
3
Europe
2

Every entry below is the same record, with the same sources, as the one on its nation’s chronicle.

  1. Africa

    Comoros

    Slave society on the islands

    The slave trade and plantation labour expand greatly, and by the mid-nineteenth century enslaved people are estimated to make up a very large proportion of the islands' population.

    Era: The Swahili-Muslim Sultanates

    Sources: Slavery in the Comoros · Wikipedia, Comoros: History · Encyclopædia Britannica

  2. Africa

    Zambia

    Swahili-Arab and Chikunda slave trade

    Swahili-Arab traders from the coast and Chikunda raiders from the Zambezi, with Bisa and Yao intermediaries, exchanged guns and cloth for ivory and captives, bringing violence and depopulation to the plateau.

    Era: Upheaval, the slave trade and Livingstone

    Sources: Zambia: External contacts and the slave and ivory trade · Encyclopaedia Britannica, History of Zambia · Wikipedia

  3. North America

    Bahamas

    Civil War blockade-running boom

    During the American Civil War, Nassau became the chief hub for running the Union blockade, shipping arms to the Confederacy and cotton out, and growing fabulously wealthy in the process.

    Era: Wrecking, blockade-running and rum

    Sources: Blockade Running from Nassau · History Today, The Bahamas — British colonization (History) · Encyclopaedia Britannica

  4. Europe

    Monaco

    Founding of the Société des Bains de Mer

    Charles III established the Société des Bains de Mer to develop a casino quarter, leasing the gambling monopoly to François Blanc, who had previously enriched the spa of Homburg.

    Era: Revolution, the Cession of 1861 and the Birth of Monte-Carlo

    Sources: History of the company (Société des Bains de Mer) · Monte-Carlo Société des Bains de Mer

  5. North America

    Bahamas

    Collapse of the blockade boom

    The defeat of the Confederacy in 1865 ended blockade-running overnight and plunged Nassau back into economic depression.

    Era: Wrecking, blockade-running and rum

    Sources: Blockade Running from Nassau · History Today, The Bahamas — British colonization (History) · Encyclopaedia Britannica

  6. Europe

    Monaco

    Monte-Carlo named

    Prince Charles III decreed that the new casino district be called Monte-Carlo in his honour; its gambling revenues rebuilt Monaco's finances and let the principality abolish direct taxation in 1869.

    Era: Revolution, the Cession of 1861 and the Birth of Monte-Carlo

    Sources: History of the company (Société des Bains de Mer) · Monte-Carlo Société des Bains de Mer

  7. Africa

    South Africa

    Diamonds discovered at Kimberley

    The discovery of diamonds near the Vaal and Orange rivers triggered a rush to Kimberley, beginning the mineral revolution and drawing capital and migrant labour into the region.

    Era: Diamonds, gold, the South African War and Union

    Sources: South Africa: Diamonds, gold and imperialist intervention (1870–1902) · Encyclopaedia Britannica, Grade 8 – Topic 2 – The Mineral Revolution in South Africa · South African History Online

  8. Africa

    Egypt

    Opening of the Suez Canal

    The Suez Canal links the Mediterranean and Red seas, transforming global trade but deepening Egypt's debts to European powers.

    Era: Ottoman Rule, Muhammad Ali and British Occupation

    Sources: Suez Crisis · Encyclopaedia Britannica

  9. Africa

    Guinea-Bissau

    Slavery abolished, contract labour follows

    Portugal abolished slavery in its territories, but replaced it with coercive "contract labour" arrangements; the transatlantic trade through Guinea's rivers had already declined across the nineteenth century.

    Era: The Rivers of Guinea and the Atlantic slave trade

    Sources: History of Guinea-Bissau · Wikipedia, Guinea-Bissau (country overview and history) · Encyclopaedia Britannica

  10. North America

    United States

    Transcontinental railroad completed

    The joining of the rails at Promontory, Utah, linked the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, accelerating settlement, commerce, and industrial growth.

    Era: Reconstruction, industrial rise, and the World Wars

    Sources: Abraham Lincoln and Emancipation; U.S. History Collections · Library of Congress