The celebration of progress. Exhibitions of industry, agriculture, mining and curious objects in the City of Aguascalientes, Mexico (second half of the 19th century)

Abstract

This article analyses how, in the mid-nineteenth century, the political class of Aguascalientes articulated a notion of progress to project a distinct regional identity. Based on a qualitative analysis of speeches and reports published in the official newspaper of Aguascalientes, El Republicano, it examines the role played by exhibitions of industry, agriculture, mining, and curiosities held within the framework of the San Marcos Fair in the city of Aguascalientes during 1851–1891. The study shows that these exhibitions, mediated by the press, sought to stimulate local production and to convey an image of the state’s political maturity and modernity, framed by the philosophy of progress. Special emphasis is placed on the analysis of speeches delivered during award ceremonies, since these present the set of values gathered by liberalism and positivism in Mexico, from a local perspective, grounded in the idea of progress and expressed in topics associated with work, education, the arts, and civility, among others. It concludes that exhibitions and their speeches represented a strategy to project an image of Aguascalientes within a universal trend associated with the holding of exhibitions, with the intention of transmitting an optimistic idea of progress.