The invention of vulcanized rubber (1839), followed by the popularization of bicycles (1870s) and the invention of the automobile (1886), led to exponential growth in the demand for rubber, which was manufactured from latex produced by several species of trees endemic to the Amazon forest. The supply of rubber was a component of the trade in the drogas de sertão, which included latex collected from multiple species of two genera, Hevea and Castilla. The most valuable species were members of the genus Hevea, because their latex could be tapped rather than harvested from a felled tree, as was the case for Castilla. This difference soon led to the development of a Hevea supply chain anchored in remote outposts permanently manned by individuals who would collect the latex, process it into rubber using artisanal technologies and sell it to a trader for transport downriver to an export agency in Belem, Manaus or Iquitos. At the outset, most rubber was collected by Indigenous communities residing in mission villages or Ribeirinhos who supplemented their subsistence livelihoods with trade in forest products. Strong annual growth in the demand for rubber quickly exceeded the ability of the resident population to provide a steady supply, however, stimulating the flow of migrants into the region. During the last half of the nineteenth century, mass migration was facilitated by new technologies. Telegraph systems and newspapers alerted individuals to new opportunities, while trains and steamships would transport them across oceans and continents. Social mobility catalyzed by industrialization and democratic…This article was originally published on Mongabay
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