The political organization accomplished with the conservative regime came to complement the emerging expansive force that was being developed since years before, placing the country in a privileged position compared to other nations in the continent. Nevertheless, this study will show that the legal dispositions referred to the merchant shipping continued being contradictory. In this way, we will see how the protectionist norms promulgated in the 1830s were confronted with a pragmatic policy that over the years were emphasizing the dichotomy between the projects and the contexts giving a an image of the country that was marked by the duality between the speech, represented by the legal norm, and the reality that usually distorts the original ideas. Furthermore, this phenomenon transcends time, being part of our national identity.