Introduction
They
were the conquered but not the defeated. Their experiment at independence had
ended in failure. Yet, despite the surrender of their government, they refused
to acknowledge the new postbellum reality. They were the truly diehard
Confederates. For them, there would be no swearing of allegiance to the Union;
there would be no Reconstruction. Between 1866 and the late 1870s, and despite
pleas from both Jefferson Davis and Robert E. Lee to remain and rebuild the
South,
some 40,000 of these people who found themselves without a country would
emigrate from the former Confederacy to various countries throughout Latin
America.
Several
Latin American nations sought out these disaffected Confederates and extended
invitations for them to begin a new life in a new country. Among these
countries, four played the largest role: Mexico, Honduras, Venezuela, and
Brazil. Each of these countries extended offers intended to entice the
Southerners to their shores. Out of the 40,000 who chose immigration, half
chose to accept the offer from Brazil. This paper specifically reviews the
Brazilian offer and subsequent acceptance of the 20,000 who chose to forever
leave the shores of the United States for life in Brazil. These Confederates
would go on to be known as The
Confederados.
Why?
In
order to understand why these former Americans felt motivated to leave, it is
important to understand what conditions were like throughout much of the South
by April 1865. At the conclusion of the Civil War, much of the South lay in
ruins. It was not just the vision of a Confederacy that had been destroyed.
Throughout the region, homes, livelihoods, and entire communities had been lost.
As one Confederate contemporary recalled, “The banks were ruined. The railroads
were destroyed. Their few manufactories were desolated. Their vessels had been
swept from the seas and rivers. The livestock consumed. Notes, bonds,
mortgages, all the money in circulation…became alike worthless. The communities
were without clothes and without food.” If the deplorable physical conditions were
not enough, the psychological impact was also playing a role. As one Confederado descendant described, his
ancestors were “helpless under military occupation and burdened by the
psychology of defeat, a sense of guilt, and the economic devastation wrought by
the war, many felt they had no choice but to leave.” However,
there were less than admirable reasons as well. As historians C.B Dawsey and
J.M Dawsey succinctly stated, “The idea of living and working alongside their
freed black labor frightened many Southerners.” Regardless
of the reasons, if staying was not an option, the question that needed to then
be answered was where were these disillusioned Confederates to go?
Brazil
The
response to that question was to come from four Latin American countries:
Mexico, Honduras, Venezuela, and Brazil. Each of these countries saw an
opportunity in the defeat of the South. There was valuable agricultural
experience among the defeated Confederates. Each country extended offers in an
attempt to persuade the Confederates to emigrate and bring that knowledge with
them. Under Emperor Maximillian, Mexico went as far as to appoint a
commissioner of colonization, naming former Confederate General John B.
Magruder as chief of the land office.
The offers that came from Mexico, Honduras, and Venezuela were essentially the same.
They included free passage from the Confederacy, 640 acres of land to heads of
families, 320 acres to single men, freedom to worship as they saw fit, no
taxation for one year, and a five year exemption from military service.
Families without a male head of household were not included in the offers
extended by the would-be host countries.
Yet,
it was Brazil that would make the most favorable offer – and the nation to
which many of the Southerners felt the strongest bond. While the Brazilian
offer included all that the other countries offered, Brazilian Emperor Dom
Pedro II took several additional steps, such as offering to extend the existing
railroad and road networks to the new communities. Brazil also had a favorable
history with the Confederacy, not only harboring and resupplying their ships,
but granting the Confederacy belligerent status during the war. In
addition to the economic benefits that Brazil offered, the climate of the
country was alluring to many of the Southern planters. Unlike the depleted
soils of the South, Brazil’s lush climate and fertile soils permitted
high-quality cotton to be grown and harvested twice each growing year. This
cotton could then potentially be sold to England, which was paying more for
Brazilian cotton than it had for Southern cotton. Other crops, such as sugar cane, corn, rice
and tobacco, also flourished in the Brazilian climate.
What
most differentiated Brazil’s offer from the others was Emperor Dom Pedro II’s
consideration of the entire community, and not just the planters. Brazil took
the unusual step of reaching out to not only the planters, but the professional
classes among the Southerners, as well. Through colonization of societies that soon
began to appear in some Southern communities, the Brazilian Emperor reached out
to doctors, dentists, teachers, merchants and artisans, as well as planters.
Several of these communities soon organized themselves into colonies and began
to make arrangements to travel to Brazil.
Security and economic concerns prompted these colonists to travel in
large groups. As plans progressed, several groups merged plans, resulting in three
large colonies and a scattering of smaller, independent groups. One colony was
planned along the Iguape River region of Sao Paulo. A second colony was planned
for the Espirto Santo region of
Brazil, with the last colony, Santa Barbara, being located near Campina on the
western end of the Sao Paulo region. All three colonies were eventually
established. Of the three colonies, the Iguape River and Espirto Santo colonies
soon failed because of a combination of poor climate, poor soil and the unfulfilled
promise of road and rail extensions. The last surviving colony, Santa Barbara,
would evolve into the current-day town of Americana. By then, Santa Barbara was
known as the Norris colony, in honor of Alabama Colonel William Norris. This
town would become synonymous with the Confederados.
Initially,
the groups of Confederate colonists arriving in Rio de Janeiro were greeted
with much fanfare. Arriving ships were often met with speeches, and on several
occasions, ships were greeted personally by Emperor Dom Pedro II as a band
played “Dixie.”
In the beginning, Brazil lived up to its offer and provided accommodations and
support to the arriving immigrants. As one former Confederate general wrote
after arriving, “Balls and parties and serenades were our nightly accompaniment
and whether in town or in the country it was one grand unvarying scene of life,
love
and seductive friendship.”
For most of the arriving Southerners, conditions in their new home would never
be as elegant again.
Life in Brazil
As
the boatloads of Southern immigrants arrived in Rio, circumstances for them
began to change. While their initial welcome was both warm and sincere, Brazil
and her emperor were soon distracted by other events of the day. By chance,
1865, which saw the end of the U.S. Civil War, also saw the beginning of the
War of the Triple Alliance, pitting Brazil, Uruguay, and Argentina against
Paraguay. Further complicating matters, following the generous offers made by
Brazil, was the collapse of the booming Brazilian economy, which plunged the
country into depression.
This change in economic fortune meant that many of the promises of the
Brazilian government went unfulfilled as Brazil struggled with a depressed economy,
a bitter war, and eventually the failing health of its emperor.
These changing conditions would lead to the end of new arrivals by the
mid-1870s.
For
those who did make the journey, establishing the new colonies proved to be more
difficult than expected. Once in Brazil, many members of the professional class
chose to remain in the urban areas, such as Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo,
rather than travel on to the often primitive, newly established colonies.
Additionally, many of the newly arrived immigrants, upon arriving to the land
they intended to farm, found that the vast size of Brazil meant that they were
located far from those who had come before. Even for those who stayed, many
found life as a pioneer difficult. As the other colonies failed, many of their
inhabitants either returned to the United States or migrated to the Norris
colony, which soon became the prominent Confederado
colony in Brazil.
Former
Confederate Colonel Anthony T. Oliver was one of the first to immigrate to
Brazil and the Norris colony.
Accompanying him on the journey was his wife, Beatrice, and two teenage
daughters. After settling in the Norris colony, Oliver purchased slaves and
attempted to reconstruct his life as it had been in the antebellum South. By
the end of the Oliver family’s first year in Brazil, Beatrice was dead from
“consumption” <tuberculosis>, followed shortly by both teenage daughters.
Upon being informed by locals that his Protestant wife could not be buried in
the Catholic cemetery, Oliver donated a plot of land to be used as a Protestant
cemetery. This cemetery soon came to be used exclusively by the Confederados. Soon, a chapel was built
nearby, which became a center of worship – and community gathering space – for
the colonists.
As if the loss of his wife and daughters was not tragic enough, Oliver’s life
would come to a sudden end four years following the loss of his wife. According
to local legend, Oliver – who was one of the few colonists to actually own
slaves – caught one of his slaves stealing and whipped him as punishment. The
next day, this same slave broke into Oliver’s home and clubbed him to death
with a hoe.
Whether factual or not, the tale illustrates the difficulties that would-be
slave owners faced.
Those
who purchased slaves and sought to recreate their antebellum way of life soon
found disappointment. Not one of the Confederado
attempts to recreate the plantation system in Brazil succeeded. The
failure of the Southern plantation system to transplant successfully was due to
several factors, but mainly the fact that slavery was already being abolished
in Brazil through such laws as 1871’s Law of the Free Womb.
This law made children born to slaves free citizens of Brazil. This gradual
move towards the abolition of slavery meant that the slaves of Brazil would not
be as subservient as had been their northern American counterparts. By 1888,
Dom Pedro II had signed the Lei Aurea
(Golden Law) and abolished slavery forever.
Aftermath
When
The Confederados arrived in Brazil, they brought not only agricultural
knowledge but introduced several farming implements previously unknown to
Brazilian farmers. Among these newly introduced tools were the spade, the rake,
and the mold-board plow.
Many of the transplanted farmers soon saw their crops flourishing and, in
addition to native Brazilian crops, soon introduced pecans and watermelons to
the region.
One particular type of watermelon, known as the “Georgia Rattlesnake,” proved
to be so popular that by the late 19th century, Confederado growers were shipping more than 100 carloads of melons
daily from Americana to various parts of Brazil. These
new crops, including the highly successful watermelon, contributed to the
economic success and growth of the area.
Today,
descendants of the original settlers continue to keep many of their traditions
and customs alive. A startling example is that up until after World War II,
descendants of the original settlers continued to speak English as their first
language.
Even now, with English being a second language, linguists have determined that
“The Confederados perhaps have retained a notably pure form of late
nineteenth-century Southern accent, which has changed and disappeared in the
United States.”
This gives historians the opportunity to study just how Southern Americans once
spoke. The so-called Southern drawl that we associate with the American South
is, in fact, a latter-day development.
In 1972, Jimmy Carter, then Georgia governor, journeyed to the region, where
Rosalynn Carter’s great-uncle is buried. Carter was moved enough by the way the
locals spoke that he remarked, “The most remarkable thing was, when they spoke,
they sounded just like people in South Georgia.”
What is spoken is essentially a Southern accent minus any trace of what modern
Americans would call a “Southern drawl.”
Conclusion
While
Brazil was not the only destination for disaffected Confederates at the end of
the Civil War, it is the only place where a colony was not only successfully established,
but flourished. The Confederados who
stayed built a community that continues to thrive to the present day. There are
now descendants of the original Confederados
living throughout Brazil. As historian C.B. Dawsey indicates, “They are proud
to have Brazil as their mother country, and the United States as their grandmother
country.”
They are a people of two lands.
Any
white supremacist beliefs that may have accompanied the Confederados on their journey have long ago lost their potency in
the multi-racial make-up of Brazil. The current heirs of The Confederado heritage view their ancestors as trailblazers and
freedom seekers, not racists. As one descendent indicated, “We’re the most Southern
and the only truly unreconstructed Confederates that there are on Earth.”
They see themselves as continuing to carry on –and honor—the Confederate
heritage bequeathed to them by their ancestors.
Throughout
Brazil, families with names like Macknight, Miller, Oliver, Norris and Carlton
continue to speak of a group of people who, rather than rejoin the Union,
successfully sought to live their lives on their own terms. Leaving the United
States, they blazed a trail forward and, despite often difficult conditions,
built a life for themselves in Brazil. History will forever remember them as The Confederados.
End
Notes
1. Bennett-Pennell, “The Confederacy’s Lost. Now
What?,” 121.
2. Soodalter, “The Confederados,”
62.
3. Ibid.
4. Dawsey, Dawsey,
and Azevedo, “The Confederados : Old South Immigrants in Brazil,” 1223.
5. Soodalter, “The
Confederados,” 62.
6. Ibid.
7. Ibid., 63.
8. Ibid.
9. Dawsey, Dawsey,
and Azevedo, “The Confederados : Old South Immigrants in Brazil”, 1223.
10. Ibid.
11. Ibid.
12. Ibid.
13. Ibid., 64.
14. Ibid.
15. Ibid.
16. Ibid.
17. Ibid.
18. Ibid.
19. Ibid.
20. Bennett-Pennell, “The Confederacy’s Lost. Now
What?,” 122.
21. Soodalter, “The Confederados,” 65.
22. Ibid.
23. Ibid.
24. Lowe, “Reconstruction Revisited: Plantation
School Writers, Postcolonial Theory, and Confederates in Brazil”, 20.
25. Ibid.
26. Ibid.
27. Soodalter, “The
Confederados,” 65.
28. Ibid.
29. Ibid.
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John. “Reconstruction Revisited: Plantation School Writers, Postcolonial
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