The imprint of immigration in Brazil can be seen especially in the culture and economy of the two richest Brazilian regions: Southeast and South.
Colonization was the initial objective of immigration in Brazil, aiming at the settlement and exploitation of the land through agrarian activities. The creation of colonies stimulated rural work. Immigrants are responsible for implementing new and better agricultural techniques, such as crop rotation, as well as the habit of consuming more vegetables. The cultural influence of the immigrant is also notable.
History
Immigration began in Brazil in 1530, when a relatively organized system of occupation and exploitation of the new land began to be established. The trend was accentuated from 1534, when the territory was divided into hereditary captaincies and important social nuclei were formed in São Vicente and Pernambuco. It was both a colonizing and a settler movement, as it contributed to form the population that became would become Brazilian, especially in a process of miscegenation that incorporated Portuguese, black and indigenous peoples.
Portuguese immigration
The creation of the general government in 1549 attracted many Portuguese to Bahia. Since then, migration has become more constant. The movement of Portuguese to Brazil was relatively small in the 16th century, but it grew over the next hundred years and reached expressive figures in the 18th century. Although Brazil was, at the time, a domain of Portugal, this process actually had a sense of immigration.
The discovery of gold and diamond mines in Minas Gerais was the great migratory attraction. It is estimated that in the first fifty years of the eighteenth century, more than 900,000 people entered Minas alone. In the same century, there was another migratory movement: that of Azoreans to Santa Catarina, Rio Grande do Sul and the Amazon, states in which they founded nuclei that later became prosperous cities.
The settlers, in the early days, established contact with an indigenous population in constant nomadism. The Portuguese, although possessing more advanced technical knowledge, had to accept numerous indigenous values indispensable to adapting to the new environment. The indigenous legacy became an element in the formation of Brazilians. The new culture incorporated the river bath, the use of cassava in food, vegetable fiber baskets and a numerous native vocabulary, mainly Tupi, associated with the things of the earth: in toponymy, in plants and in fauna, by example. Indigenous populations did not fully participate, however, in the process of sedentary agriculture implemented, as their pattern of economy involved constant change from one place to another. Hence, the colonist resorted to African labor.
African element
Thus emerged the third important group that would participate in the formation of the Brazilian population: black Africans. It is impossible to specify the number of slaves brought during the period of the slave trade, of the century XVI to XIX, but it is admitted that there were about 4 million blacks brought from Africa to be enslaved. The African black contributed to the population and economic development of Brazil and became, through miscegenation, an inseparable part of its people. The Africans spread throughout the Brazilian territory, in sugar mills, farms of livestock, mining camps, extractive sites, cotton plantations, coffee farms and areas urban areas. His presence was projected throughout the human and cultural formation of Brazil with work techniques, music and dances, religious practices, food and clothing.
Spanish, French, Jews
The entry of foreigners into Brazil was prohibited by Portuguese legislation in the colonial period, but this did not prevent Spaniards from arriving between 1580 and 1640, when the two crowns were united; Jews (mainly from the Iberian Peninsula), English, French and Dutch. Sporadically, English, Italian or German scientists, missionaries, navigators and pirates traveled to Brazil.
Immigration in the 19th century
Immigration itself took place from 1808, on the eve of independence, when a permanent flow of Europeans to the Brazil, which was accentuated with the foundation of the colony of Nova Friburgo, in the province of Rio de Janeiro, in 1818, and that of São Leopoldo, in Rio Grande do Sul, in 1824. Two thousand Swiss and one thousand Germans settled in Brazil at that time, encouraged by the opening of ports to friendly nations. Other attempts to settle Irish and Germans, especially in the North East, failed completely. Although the concession of land to foreigners was authorized, the latifundium prevented the establishment of small rural properties and slavery hindered free wage labor.
In the characterization of the immigration process in Brazil, there are three periods that correspond respectively to the peak, decline and extinction of slavery.
The first period goes from 1808, when the importation of Africans was free, until 1850, when the prohibition of trafficking was decreed. From 1850 to 1888, the second period was marked by progressive measures for the extinction of slavery (Lei do Ventre Livre, Lei dos Sexagenarios, manumissions and, finally, the Lei Áurea), as a result of which migratory currents began to head to Brazil, especially to areas where the slave arm. The third period, which lasted until the mid-twentieth century, began in 1888, when, after slavery was extinguished, free labor gained social expression and immigration grew remarkably, preferably to the south, but also in São Paulo, where until then the coffee plantation was based on work slave.
After abolition, in just ten years (from 1890 to 1900) more than 1.4 million immigrants entered Brazil, double the number of entries in the previous eighty years (1808-1888).
The diversification of migratory flows by nationality is also accentuated, a fact that had already occurred in the last years of the previous period. In the 20th century, the migratory flow presented irregularities, as a result of external factors - both world wars, the postwar European recovery, the Japanese crisis -- and, equally, due to factors internal. At the beginning of the 20th century, for example, São Paulo witnessed a departure of immigrants, mainly Italians, to Argentina. At the same time, there was the beginning of Japanese immigration, which would reach, in fifty years, great significance. In the 1950 census, the Japanese constituted the fourth colony in Brazil in number of immigrants, with 10.6% of foreigners registered.
immigrant distribution
Do not stop now... There's more after the advertising ;)
There are two types of immigrant distribution in the country, with effects on assimilation processes. The first type can be called "concentration", in which immigrants are located in colonies, such as in Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina and Paraná. In this case, immigrants did not maintain contact, in the early days, with nationals, but the approximation occurs as colonization grows and the need to market the products of the Cologne. The second type, which can be called "dispersion", occurred in the coffee farms of São Paulo and in cities, mainly Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo.
In these areas, the immigrant, from the moment of arrival, kept in contact with the national population, which facilitated their assimilation.
The main groups of immigrants in Brazil are Portuguese, Italians, Spaniards, Germans and Japanese, who represent more than eighty percent of the total. Until the end of the 20th century, the Portuguese appear as a dominant group, with more than thirty percent, which is natural, given their affinity with the Brazilian population. The Italians, then, are the group that has the greatest participation in the migration process, with almost thirty per hundred of the total, concentrated mainly in the state of São Paulo, where the largest Italian colony in the parents. This is followed by the Spaniards, with more than ten percent, the Germans, with more than five, and the Japanese, with almost five percent of the total number of immigrants.
immigrant contribution
In the urbanization process, the immigrant's contribution is highlighted, sometimes with the transformation of old nuclei into cities (São Leopoldo, Novo Hamburgo, Caxias, Farroupilha, Itajaí, Brusque, Joinville, Santa Felicidade etc.), now with its presence in urban activities of commerce or services, with street sales, as it happened in São Paulo and Rio de January.
Other colonies founded in various parts of Brazil during the 19th century became important urban centers. This is the case of Holambra SP, created by the Dutch; from Blumenau SC, established by German immigrants led by physician Hermann Blumenau; and from Americana SP, originally formed by confederates who emigrated from the south of the United States as a result of the secession war. German immigrants also settled in Minas Gerais, in the current municipalities of Teófilo Otoni and Juiz de Fora, and in Espírito Santo, where today is the municipality of Santa Teresa.
In all the colonies, the role played by the immigrant as an introducer of techniques and activities that spread around the colonies is equally highlighted. The immigrant is also due to other contributions in different sectors of Brazilian activity.
One of the most significant presents itself in the industrialization process of the states of the southern region of the country, where rural handicraft in the colonies grew until it became small or medium industry. In São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, wealthy immigrants contributed to the investment of capital in the productive sectors.
The contribution of the Portuguese deserves special mention, as their constant presence ensured the continuity of values that were basic in the formation of Brazilian culture.
The French influenced the arts, literature, education and social habits, in addition to games now incorporated into children's play. Especially in São Paulo, the influence of the Italians in architecture is great. They are also due to a pronounced influence on cuisine and customs, these being translated by a heritage in the religious, musical and recreational areas.
The Germans contributed in industry with various activities and, in agriculture, brought the cultivation of rye and alfalfa. The Japanese brought soybeans, as well as the cultivation and use of vegetables. The Lebanese and other Arabs spread their rich cuisine in Brazil.
