Urban development, social control and hygiene in El Salvador (1859, 1861-1863)

Abstract

The urban development of San Salvador during the governments of former president Gerardo Barrios in 1859 and 1861 to 1863, indicates that the main professional sites and commercial establishments that were opened were the firms of lawyers. This is due to the need to have professionals who legalize land privatization transactions. Drunkenness and forbidden games were the main types of entertainment of the popular sectors that were attempted to control. Moreover, the main diseases of Salvadorans in the mid-nineteenth century were fevers, dysentery, influenza, acute stomach pains, and rheumatic diseases. The little support for the temperance of the habits of popular sectors and the battle against the aforementioned diseases lies in the fact that public finances were dedicated to the construction of roads, necessary elements for an agro-export indigo economy.

Revista de Museología "Kóot" No.9 2018: 45-61