At the end of the XIX century, the Province of São Paulo possessed various schools founded by the North American missionaries, known as the American schools. These schools became part of the ordinary educational offer of a school system which tried to establish itself within the state education system and, at the same time, became known nationally. They were recognized by Brazilian authorities as collaborating with the formation of the country's culture and national identity. By emphasizing the need for women's education and female teachers as a way of raising moral and spiritual values in accordance with their religious precepts they instituted co-education and unveiled a new educational perspective different from that offered by catholic and even official schools. In so doing, they introduced those liberal premises which prevailed in the United States and which were still viewed with mistrust by the conservative sectors of civil society and the Catholic Church in São Paulo.
Protestantism; female education; teaching; missionary work