From peddlers to farmers: Syrians and Lebanese in western São Paulo

Abstract

Among the thousands of immigrants who disembarked at national ports from 1850 onwards and destined for the lands of the then province of São Paulo, the Syrians and Lebanese followed a specific path. With a concentration, especially in the city of São Paulo, focused on the commercial sector, initially as peddlers and, as they created networks of customers, they set up stores in the central regions of the cities. From 1880 onwards, they also began to move to the western region of the state, which was in constant economic expansion thanks to the coffee economy, following the same career path as the capital. One of the areas that welcomed these immigrants was the region polarized by Jaú, located a little over 300 kilometers from the capital. However, from an initial analysis of interviews with some descendants and post-mortem inventories of immigrants who settled in the region, it was possible to see that some families also invested in agriculture. Based on this information, we intend to analyze which socio-historical factors led these immigrants to break with the usual urban pattern, based on theoretical and methodological notes present in the field of historical sociology. To this end, different sources will be analyzed, such as post-mortem inventories, foreigner registration records, parish registers, historical periodicals, almanacs, and interviews with descendants. (AU)