Modernizing the Colony: Ports in Colonial Philippines 1880-1908: Vol. 14.3, Illinois University Press, Hawaii University

The article of Didac Cubeiro focuses on global transportation history after the advent of steam-powered ships and port and harbor improvements that transformed the world, a process seen in the development of Manila and other ports in the Philippines. Cubeiro's examination of the Spanish Empire's attempts to modernize the port infrastructure in Manila to accommodate the newest—and deep draught—steel hulled steamships demonstrates the global reach of new maritime technology and the associated transnational flow of capital investments necessary to support them. It also shows how rich an evidentiary record survives for port cities, in Manila and elsewhere, that may, as in this case study, increase our world history understandings as well as local history.