One thing that I knew while reading this article is that Britain brought over many sports to Brazil, along with other countries in South America. Throughout history, as Britain colonized countries or brought its influence into countries, it also brought over sports. For example, Britain introduced cricket in India, which is now one of the most popular and played sports in that country. In Brazil’s case, that sport was soccer. I find it interesting that although Britain was the country to introduce soccer to Brazil and other countries in South America, Brazil, and those other South American countries have come to dominate the sport. Brazil sends soccer players to other countries to play on their club teams. They have also won World Cups and Olympic medals.
One thing that was new to me was the American School. I had not heard of it before reading this article. The American School, now known as Mackenzie College, was founded in 1871 by George Whitehall and his wife. This school was opened to offer education to both the boys and girls of Sao Paulo. Education was lacking in Sao Paulo before this school opened, and this school helped to improve that. This school had a significant impact on improving the education of the people of Sao Paulo. Although this school accepted both boys and girls, it didn’t hinder the improvement of education. This school helped to influence developments in other areas as well.
Another thing that was new to me was the importance of the YMCA in South America. I don’t think that before reading this article, I knew that the YMCA was in South America and the role that it played there. In the beginning, the YMCA had a difficult time getting a foothold in South America. Some of the causes of their difficulties included geographical areas, the importance of indigenous culture, and Roman Catholicism as the dominant religion, which made it difficult for those trying to bring in a Christian missionary. Once the YMCA was able to get a foothold in Brazil, it made it much easier for them to bring more YMCAs to the rest of Brazil. As one YMCA succeeded, others began to appear throughout the country. The YMCA offered classes for many different sports new to the people of Brazil, including wrestling, boxing, basketball, etc. The YMCA wanted to improve the health of the local population.
