The black people
Aside from working as slaves during the colonial period, the black population also worked on the coffee crops, commodity that consolidated the industrialization in the state. Additionally, the black workers were also responsible for building the railways in the state's countryside region.
To talk about the contribution of the black people for the development of São Paulo is to dive into Brazil's history. They started being brought to Brazil in 1530 and have worked as slaves for 358 years, up to 1888, at which time the abolition of slavery took place. They worked hard in sugar cane crops and later, in the end of the 18th century and beginning of the 19th century, in coffee crops. During the colonial period, the slave labor was also used in the extraction of gold and diamonds in the states of Goiás, Mato Grosso and Minas Gerais, among other regions. For three and a half centuries, the black population has helped build Brazil and consolidate the economic foundations for the industrialization process, mainly in the state of São Paulo, whose major industrial boost took place with the growing and commercialization of coffee, which helped the state accumulate a significant capital volume, mainly in the region known as Vale do Paraíba.
In the 19th and 20th centuries, São Paulo became the world's largest coffee producer, what helped balance the Brazilian trade balance. "The funds used to build the industries came from the coffee that was grown and harvested by the black slaves. During the last years of slavery, the black population worked from Monday to Monday, 16 hours a day, in Vale do Paraíba. The so-called coffee barons knew the abolition was about to happen, reason why they maximized the production at the expense of slaves. When immigrants arrived in Brazil, mainly the Italians, they found everything consolidated," tells professor Hélio Santos, who holds a master's degree in Finance and a doctoral degree in Business Administration and Economy from USP, and author of "A Busca de Um Caminho para o Brasil."
The immigrants who started to arrive at the country in the middle of the 19th century contributed to the development of São Paulo, "however, the black slaves have contributed for a longer time, without being paid for that, unlike the Italians who replaced the slave labor but were paid to work." Additionally, one of the reasons for the immigration process was to reduce the number of black people in the Brazilian population: at that time, it was believed that the development and modernization of the society would be possible only with a growth in the number of white people and a reduction in that of black and native indians.
In 1824, two years after the Independence of Brazil, in the city of São Leopoldo, state of Rio Grande do Sul, the Germans acquired the right to become the owners of the land they worked on and demanded that the German language was taught at schools. "The arrival of the Germans was fundamental to Brazil. Notice the richness of the state," Hélio Santos says, pointing out that the government invested budgetary funds in that state. "In the past, the government adopted policies that benefited several races, but not the black people. These policies were focused on the Italians, the Japanese, the Germans, and the Swiss. That is the reason why most descendents of these groups enjoy a comfortable life today. The situation faced by the immigrants at that time was completely different from that faced by the slaves. This marked and substantial inequality led to the creation of two 'Brazils'," Hélio Santos states.