Founding
municipality in the state of São Paulo, Brazil
Fetching the article from Wikipedia…
Americana (Portuguese pronunciation: [ameɾiˈkɐnɐ]) is a municipality (município) located in the Brazilian state of São Paulo. It is part of the Metropolitan Region of Campinas. The population is 237,240 (2022 Census) in an area of 133.91 km2 (51.70 sq mi). The original settlement developed around the local railway station, founded in 1875, and the development of a cotton weaving factory in a nearby farm.
After 1866, thousands of former Confederate soldiers and sympathizers from the American Civil War settled in the region. Following the Civil War, slavery was abolished in the United States. In Brazil, however, slavery was legal until 1888, making it a particularly attractive location to the defeated Confederates, among whom was a former member of the Alabama State Senate, William Hutchinson Norris.
Around three hundred of the Confederados are members of the Fraternidade Descendência Americana (Fraternity of American Descendants). They meet quarterly at the Campo Cemetery.
The city was known as Vila dos Americanos ("Village of the Americans") until 1904, when it belonged to the city of Santa Bárbara d'Oeste. It became a district in 1924 and a municipality in 1953.
Americana has several museums and tourist attractions, including the Pedagogic Historical Museum and the Contemporary Art Museum.
The first records on the occupation of the lands where Americana now stands date from the late 18th century, when Domingos da Costa Machado I acquired a crown property between the municipalities of Vila Nova da Constituição (now Piracicaba) and Vila de São Carlos (now Campinas). In that area several estates were created, including Salto Grande, Machadinho, and Palmeiras.
A part of the property, which included the Machadinho estate, was sold by Domingos da Costa Machado II to Antônio Bueno Rangel. After Rangel's death, the estate was divided between his sons José and Basílio Bueno Rangel. A part of the property was afterwards sold to the captain of the Brazilian National Guard, Ignácio Corrêa Pacheco, who is considered the founder of Americana.
In 1866, the region started to be populated with American immigrants from the former Confederate States of America, who were fleeing the aftermath of the American Civil War. The Emperor Dom Pedro II was a fierce advocate of the South during the war, and openly recruited the former Confederates, offering free transport, cheap land, and an easy path to citizenship.
The first immigrant to arrive was the lawyer and ex-state senator from Alabama, colonel William Hutchinson Norris. Norris installed himself in lands near the seat of the Machadinho estate and the Quilombo River.
Norris was to investigate and report on Brazil as a possible new home for Confederates who no longer wanted to live in the United States. His report was positive, and in 1867 the rest of his family arrived in Brazil, accompanied by other families from the Confederate States. These families settled in the region, bringing agricultural innovations and a kind of watermelon known as "Georgia's rattlesnake". Between 8,000 and 20,000 former Confederates emigrated to Brazil (not all to this one town). Slaves were inexpensive in Brazil, one noted, and at least 54 families bought 536 slaves after arrival in Brazil.
In 1875, almost a decade after the arrival of the Confederate immigrants in the region, the Companhia Paulista de Estradas de Ferro completed the expansion of its main railway to the city of Rio Claro. A station was built within the lands of the Machadinho estate. Despite belonging to the municipality of Campinas, the station was made to serve the estates in the municipality of Santa Bárbara d'Oeste, which was further away and had no station of its own.
The inauguration of the station counted the Emperor Dom Pedro II and Gaston, comte d'Eu among those who attended. The station was baptized "Santa Bárbara station". It is unknown exactly when the small village became the city of Americana, but it is known that this village was created by the time of the inauguration of the railway station, and that it was Ignácio Corrêa Pacheco who distributed the lands. Pacheco is thus considered the founder of the city. The municipal holiday of Americana is still August 27, the day when the railway station was inaugurated.
The small town formed around the station was named "Villa da Estação de Santa Bárbara" (Santa Bárbara Station Town). Its inhabitants consisted mainly of American families, and the town became thus popularly known as "Villa dos Americanos" (Town of the Americans).
The similarity between the official name of the town and that of the neighboring municipality frequently caused serious communication problems, such as mail to Santa Bárbara Station often being shipped to the municipality of Santa Bárbara, ten kilometers (6.2 mi) away. In order to solve the problem, the railway company changed the name of the station in 1900 to "Estação de Villa Americana" (American Town Station). The name of the town itself was then also officially changed to "Villa Americana" (American Town).
The official song of the city says, in part:
The many Confederates brought us the wheelbarrow, watermelon, cotton and the plow.
The city celebrates an annual Confederate festival, named the "Festa Confederada". The Confederate flag is prominently displayed, and men dress as Confederate soldiers.
In the 1890s, the farm known as Fazenda Salto Grande was purchased by the American Clement Willmot. Willmot established the first industry in Americana under the name Clement H. Willmot & Cia. In 1889, the factory was renamed Fábrica de Tecidos Carioba (Carioba Textile Factory). The name "Carioba" derives from the Tupi words for "white cloth".
The factory ran into financial trouble after the abolition of slavery in 1888, and was purchased by German immigrants who were members of the Müller family. The town of Carioba sprang up around the factory. German immigrants brought European-style urbanization to Carioba, which is reflected in the style of its manors, factories, hotels, and schools. Asphalt of tar was then first imported from Europe into Americana and utilized in road paving. The factory became the basis for the present-day Parque Industrial de Americana (Industrial Park of Americana).
On October 8, 1887, Joaquim Boer led a large group of Italian immigrants to Brazil. At Americana, these Italian immigrants built their first church in 1896, dedicated to Saint Anthony of Padua, who eventually became the patron saint of the city. Born in Portugal, and called Saint Anthony of Lisbon there, the saint who is among the three June popular saints in the Catholic calendar (the others being Saints John the Baptist and Peter) is celebrated on June 13 with typical Junine countryside Brazilian food, prayers of the rosary, square dance, liquor, and bonfire.
Although immigrants got incentives to come to Brazil, Italians who arrived before that did not seem to have enjoyed special privileges. They often lived within the quarters designed for enslaved Africans who also suffered from lack of comfort and healthy conditions. Those immigrants worked as indentured servants, paying off their debts to farmers who had paid for their tickets and were exploited, until the system was revamped and improved. Their descendants went on to become laborers, merchants, and professionals.
In 1906, two years after the creation of the Distrito de Paz de Villa Americana, the municipality received a visit from Elihu Root, United States Secretary of State, who had been attending and presiding over the Pan-American Conference held in Rio de Janeiro. After the conference, Root visited other parts of Brazil (such as Araras), where he was informed of the existence of Americana. Root expressed interest in visiting the town, and he was received at Americana with great emotion and affection. Hundreds of the residents received Root at nighttime.
With the change in status from village to district, Americana developed rapidly. Its first police force was created, a sub prefecture was established, and three street lights – lit by kerosene and brought from Germany – were introduced. A school was also established, with the sending of the educator Silvino José de Oliveira to represent Americana's interests with the state government. All of these developments led the local inhabitants to clamor for the status of a city.
In 1922, Villa Americana was one of the most progressive districts in Campinas, with a population of 4,500. In that year, the fight to change its status to city began, led by Antonio Lobo and others, such as Lieutenant Antas de Abreu, Cícero Jones and Hermann Müller himself. Their efforts finally bore fruit: On November 12, 1924, the Municipality of Villa Americana was created, comprising two districts: Villa Americana and Nova Odessa. Nova Odessa later becoming its own municipality.
At the time of the beginning of the Getúlio Vargas dictatorship in Brazil in 1930, Americana was undergoing a profound economic transformation due to the rise of the textile industry there (the city was known as the "Rayon Capital").
In 1932, during the administration of Mayor Antonio Zanaga, the revolt known as the Constitutionalist Revolution erupted against Vargas's regime. Americana sent volunteers to this revolution, and three of them, Jorge Jones, Fernando de Camargo and Aristeu Valente (from Nova Odessa, then part of Americana), perished during the struggle. Their sacrifice is remembered in Americana to this day.
In 1938, Mayor Zanaga changed the name of the town from Villa Americana to Americana, and due to the economic transformation of the town, the Comarca of Americana was created on December 31, 1953, during the administration of Mayor Jorge Arbix. In 1959, during the administration of Mayor Abrahim Abraham, Nova Odessa was made autonomous as its own municipality.
Between 1960 and 1970, the rapid development of Americana led many people to move there in search of work. Because of its size, there was not enough room to accommodate the new residents and many lived on the border of Santa Bárbara d'Oeste and Americana, creating what is known today as Zona Leste de Santa Bárbara (East Santa Barbara).
The same also occurred because the majority of the population were unaware of the location where one municipality ended and where another began. The confusion came about because municipal limits were not yet fully determined. The problem was solved with the creation of a major avenue, today called Avenida da Amizade (Friendship Avenue), which became the dividing line.
At the same time as these developments, some problems were also created. The sudden increase in population caused an imbalance in the public accounts of the municipality, which was not ready for such a great number of new residents.
Americana is located in the center-east region of the state of São Paulo, Southeast Region.
Americana has an altitude tropical climate, with hot summers and chilly winters. In winter, there is much less rainfall than in summer. According to Köppen and Geiger the climate classification is Aw.
The median high temperature in summer is 29 °C (84 °F) and the median low is 18 °C (64 °F), comparable to Boston. In winter, the median high temperature is 22 °C (72 °F) and the median low temperature is 10 °C (50 °F), comparable to Orlando, Florida.
In Americana, the month with the most daily hours of sunshine is February with an average of 9.37 hours of sunshine. In total, there are 290.43 hours of sunshine in February.
The month with the fewest daily hours of sunshine in Americana is January with an average of 8.87 hours of sunshine per day. In total, there are 266.09 hours of sunshine in January. About 3251.14 hours of sunshine are counted in Americana throughout the year. On average, there are 106.92 hours of sunshine per month.
Amblyomma sculptum and A. dubitatum are common here. In 2017, it was found that α-cypermethrin (pyrethroid) and flufenoxuron (benzoylurea chitin synthesis inhibitor) are efficacious against populations in this area. These ticks are significant veterinary parasites and so α-cyp and flufenoxuron are useful here for animal protection.
According to the 2022 IBGE Census, as of August 2022, Americana had a population of 237,240 and a population density of 1,771.61 (inhabitants / km2).
The population mainly descends from American Southerners and a mixture of Portuguese, Italian, German and Levantine immigrants, as well as some indigenous Brazilian and African peoples.
Because of its origins as a village settled by American Confederates, it received the name "Americana", the feminine form of "American", which in Portuguese can mean any native of the Americas, although often applied only to U.S. citizens.
Main ethnic groups:
Text from the Wikipedia article “Americana, São Paulo”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.