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During the 16th century, the priests of “Company of Jesus” arrived at
the plateau of Piratininga and built the Jesuit’s school. Among the priests there were the priests José de Anchieta and Manoel de Nóbrega, who
dedicated their teaching the catechism to the indians that lived in the region. It was around the school that, in 1554, the biggest city in
South America was founded.
During the first three hundred years of existence, São Paulo wasn't more than a
small poor province where residents survived with agriculture while they tried to enslave the indians to help them on the sugar cane fields. The
distance from the sea left the village commercially isolated, serving only as a starting point for the “bandeirantes” (explorers) that left
towards to the interior of Brazil. The function of the explorers was to search for precious stones and to capture indians, taming the brazilian
territory.
In 1711, São Paulo was promoted to the category of city but continued to be a poor
province with no profitable economical activities. It was only in the middle of the 18th century that the city started to prosper
with coffee plantations. To facilitate the coffee transport to the harbor in Santos, where it was shipped to Europe, several railways started to
be built all over the State.
With the end of the slavery in 1888 and the arrival of the immigrants for the
farming, São Paulo grew rapidly. The changes provoked an increase the commercial establishments and residential districts. The prosperity was
also noted with the arrival of the electricity, the first cars and the construction of larges feats like “Avenida Paulista” (Paulista Avenue)
and Viaduto do Chá (Chá Viaduct).
After the instability during the beginning of the 30's, with the burning of the
coffee and after the Constitutionalist Revolution, the industry of São Paulo started to prosper in detriment of agriculture. Mainly with the
arrival of automobile factories in São Paulo, during the 50's, the State became one of the most industrialized of Brazil.
Since then, São Paulo grows up on an ungoverned rhythm, receiving people from all
over the world that helped the city to be what it is today. Today, the city has a population of around 10 million residents and is among the
largest cities in the world. |
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