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SÃO PAULO HISTORY
Foundation of São Paulo
São Paulo arise as a Jesuit mission, on January 25, 1554. Over time, the village ended up being characterized as a commercial and service warehouse of relative regional importance. This is characteristic of a commercial city and heterogeneous composition will accompany the city throughout its history, and will reach its apex after the spectacular demographic and economic growth coming from the cycle of coffee and industrialization, that would elevate São Paulo to the greater position of the country.
In January 1554, a group of Jesuits, led by Father Manuel da Nóbrega and assisted by the Jesuit Jose de Anchieta, aided by João Ramalho. In order to baptize the Native People (Native Indians) who lived at the region, the Jesuits built a Small Church on the top of hill between the Tietê, Anhangabaú and Tamanduateí rivers, with an agreement of the Tibiriçá (Leader of Indians), who commanded a village of Guaianases nearby. On January 25 of that year, a day commemorating a conversion of the Apostle Paul. The celebration marked the beginning of the installation of the Jesuits in the place, and entered a history as birth of São Paulo city.
Occupation of the City
In the XVI century, new churches were founded: in 1588 (the first prototype of the Cathedral of São Paulo), Nossa Senhora do Carmo Church in 1592 (was demolished in 1928), the Church of Santo Antônio (still today in Patriarch Square) and the Chapel of Nossa Senhora da Assunção. Around 1600 (which would give rise to the current Monastery of St. Benedict).
The Bandeirantes Leaders and The Gold Cycle
In the XVII century, São Paulo remained a nucleus of poor people and isolated from the most dynamic areas of the colony. Thus, already in the first decades of the century, the paulistas began to organize the Bandeiras, Great Expeditions to unexplored areas inside contry of the colony, in search of native labor, stones and precious metals. In a short time, the "Bandeirantes" (leaders of Bandeiras Expeditions) would become the great responsible for the extension of the limits of the colony borders, incorporating to the territory of Brazil numerous areas that, according to the Tordesilhas Agreement, belonged to Spain.
The Bandeirantes would become central figures in the political history of São Paulo in the XVII century, and a local authority of the exploiters sometimes surpassed the interests of the Catholic Church and the Portuguese King. In 1640, strong opposition from the Jesuits to the capture and commercialization of the indigenous laborers promoted by the Bandeirantes led to a series of conflicts between the two groups, culminating, on July 13 of that year, with the expulsion of the Jesuits from São Paulo, a measure that had the support of the village merchants. The Jesuits obtained permission to return to São Paulo in 1653.
Strategically located in front of the main routes to the contry inside, and bathed by the Tietê river (whose natural course served as a route to the contry inside, São Paulo became the main center of the Bandeirante Movement, especially from of the 1660s. The historic expeditions by Fernão Dias Pais, Antônio Raposo Tavares, Domingos Jorge Velho and Bartolomeu Bueno da Silva.
In 1690, the Bandeirantes Paulistas discovered gold in the "Sertão do Cuieté", current state of Minas Gerais. They would repeat the feat a few years later, in Mato Grosso and Goiás. First exploring and occupying the Minas Gerais territory, the Paulistas would soon face the competition of Luso-Brazilians from other regions of the colony, culminating in the conflict called the Emboabas War. The discovery by the Paulistas (people from São Paulo) for the first time aroused the attention of the Portuguese Kingdom over the village, since São Paulo, at that time, not only concentrated the departure of the expeditions, but also became the main nucleus of irradiation of the people that were directed To Minas Gerais and, later, to Mato Grosso and Goiás. As a consequence, in 1709, São Paulo replaced São Vicente as the administrative headquarters of the province (which has its name changed to the Province of São Paulo and Minas de Ouro). In 1711, São Paulo is elevated to the city. In this year it counts 9 thousand people living in the city.
The Sugar Cycle
The planting of sugarcane was stimulated in the southeastern areas of the capital, and large weaving and smelting factories are installed. In 1792, the opening of Calçada do Lorena (main road), connecting the cities of São Paulo and Santos, would provide adequate conditions for the transportation of sugar and other foodstuffs produced inside the province. São Paulo is benefited by its strategic geographical position, as a natural crossroads of the circulation routes between the interior and the coast of the colony. It affirms then its role of commercial center, through which the production of the production was made, towards the port of Santos.
In 1750, with the expulsion of the Jesuits from Brazil, this time by determination of the Marquis of Pombal, the goods of the order are confiscated. The church of the Jesuits, rebuilt in the early XVIII century, is transformed into the seat of the administration of the province, now separated from Minas Gerais and renamed as Province of São Paulo.
The First Reign and the Faculty of Law
São Paulo city serves as a stage for events of great importance in the history of the country. Among the most distinguished names of the campaign for Brazilian Independence was José Bonifácio de Andrada e Silva. And it was in the capital of São Paulo, that Dom Pedro I proclaimed Brazil's independence. Also living in the city was the emperor's most famous lover, the Marquise de Santos. São Paulo received the title of "Imperial City", granted by D. Pedro I in 1823.
In 1825, the Official Public Library of São Paulo was created, the first of the province. In 1828, the Faculty of Law of Largo São Francisco was inaugurated. It is the oldest legal institution of the country, next to the Faculty of Law of Olinda - Pernambuco Province, both instituted by imperial decree of 1827. After the installation of the faculty, the city receives the title of "Imperial City and Burgo of the Students of São Paulo de Piratininga ". The consequent influx of masters and students causes a radical change in the daily life of the city. In addition to demanding the construction of hotels, restaurants and artistic centers, the agglomeration of scholars enriches the cultural life of São Paulo. Throughout history, the faculty (incorporated into USP - São Paulo University, in 1934) would become responsible for the formation of a considerable part of the Brazilian intellectual and political elite, and its building (housed in the former convent of San Francisco) was the scene of acts and public demonstrations related to numerous facts of the political life of the country.
The Second Reign and the Coffee Cycle
Coming from Rio de Janeiro, coffee began to be extensively cultivated in São Paulo. In 1850, coffee was already the main product exported by São Paulo. From the Vale do Paraíba, the coffee plantations spread through the purple lands of western São Paulo, previously occupied with sugarcane. From the reign of Dom Pedro II, the city gained a new impetus with the development of the coffee economy: the commerce and services sectors increased considerably and the formation of an expressive bourgeoisie.
Many farmers prosper, with profits from the use of wage labor and the employment of immigrant labor. The abundance of financial resources leads to the realization of large investments, most of which are funded by private initiative. Several railways are opened, linking the city of São Paulo with the main producing areas of the province and the Port of Santos: the first is the São Paulo Railway, inaugurated in 1867, which is followed by the Sorocabana Railway, delivered in 1870.
In 1872, the water supply sistem and gas lighting services were installed, and a transportation system with animal trams was created. In 1884, the first telephone lines began to function. In 1873, the private initiative inaugurated the first educational institutions, the Instituto Presbiteriano Mackenzie and School of Arts and Crafts of São Paulo.
After the 1880s, coffee had a new international appreciation. The São Paulo farmers, however, had to deal with the problem of the shortage of workers. After the promulgation of the Eusébio de Queirós Act and the consequent abolition of the slave trade in 1850, black slaves became scarce and increasingly expensive. To replace them, immigrants began to arrive, especially Italians. A significant number of these immigrants settled in the capital itself, using the first industries that settled in the neighborhoods of Brás and Mooca, from investments derived from the profits made by entrepreneurs in the coffee-growing sector. In 1882, the Inn of the Immigrants was founded, initially in Bom Retiro (1882) and later in Mooca (1885).
XIX and XX Century - Industrialization
Coffee growing, which was in full development, needed manpower. This stimulated the entry of a considerable number of immigrants, who brought new techniques of production of manufactured goods and was the first salaried labor in Brazil. Thus they constituted an indispensable consumer market for industrial development. The sector that grew the most was textiles, favored in part by the growth of the cotton crop due to the United States War of Secession, between 1861 and 1865.
In the 1880s the first industrial outbreak occurred when the number of establishments rose from two hundred in 1881 to six hundred in 1889. This first moment of industrial growth inaugurated the process of import substitution.
With the difficulty of importing industrialized goods, the export of coffee was impaired, thus stimulating investment and domestic production, basically the consumer goods industry. It was in this scenario that the accumulation of capital from the coffee economy began to be invested in industrial investments. Coffee was no longer yielding to the former, and the prohibition of increased cultivation led some coffee barons to begin diversifying their investments. Entrepreneurs like Irineu Evangelista de Souza and Barão de Mauá (1813 - 1889) emerged, worried about the development of the railroads, the cities and all the necessary infrastructure for the growth of imperial Brazil. However, the early industries emerged gradually in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, they still represented a low share of the national economy.
Industry is the main characteristic of the economy of São Paulo. After the crisis of 1929 in New York, coffee gave way to industries, which made São Paulo remain in the leadership of the national industry until today.
The decay of coffee cultivation causes the transfer of capital to industry, which could be developed based on the consumer market and the available labor force in the state. This first phase of industrialization occurs in the Brazilian economic context of import substitution.
The period of greatest growth of the state industry occurred in the mandate of Juscelino Kubitschek, who promoted the internationalization of the Brazilian economy, bringing to São Paulo the automobile industry.
São Paulo in the XXI Century
Currently, the state is a leader in several sectors of the Brazilian economy, notably in the financial sector (concentrated in the city of São Paulo), in the automobile and aviation industries, and in sugar-alcohol and orange juice production.
São Paulo is the richest state in Brazil, with the highest GDP among the Brazilian states and the second GDP per capita of the Federation, being thus one of the most important economic poles of Latin America and propeller of the Brazilian economy.
São Paulo offers a good logistics infrastructure for investments, due to the good conditions and extension of its road network, as well as its waterway, port and airport infrastructure. The interconnection of these meshes allows an efficient multimodal transport system. This allows the company to have a diversified economy, made up of metal-mechanic, sugar-alcohol, textile, chemical, automotive, aeronautics and information technology industries, as well as the services, financial and agricultural sectors.
São Paulo and the main financial, corporate and mercantile center of South America. It is the most populous city in Brazil and the American continent. São Paulo is the most influential Brazilian city in the global scenario, being considered the 14th most globalized city on the planet, receiving the classification of global city alpha, by the Globalization and World Cities Study Group & Network (GaWC). The motto of the city, present on its official coat of arms at the City Flag is: "Non Ducor, Duco", Latin expression meaning: "I'm not lead, I lead".
Current Population (Statistic 2016): 12.038.175 people.
