CONFEDERADOS
The
Confederados were some 10,000 to 20,000 Confederate citizens who moved to Brazil, some after the War of Secession but en masse after the final defeat and forced dissolution of the Confederate States of America after the Second Great War. Most settled in the state of Sao Paulo but can be found all throughout Brazil. The city of Virginia, Brazil was founded by these emigrants. [1]
In 1863 after the end of the War of Secession, a small number of Confederates left the region, both short-term and permanently. The most popular destination for emigration was the Brazilian Empire, where slavery remained legal.
Emperor Dom Pedro II wanted to encourage the cultivation of cotton. To that end, Dom Pedro offered the potential immigrants subsidized transport to Brazil, cheap land, and tax breaks. Confederate President Jefferson Davis and General Robert E. Lee advised Southerners against emigration, but many ignored their advice and set out to establish a new life away from the destruction of war and to cultivate wealth. [2]
Many Confederates who took the Emperor's offer had lost their lands and/or fortunes during the war. In addition, Brazil still had slavery (and did not abolish it until the Second Mexican War). Most of the immigrants were from the states of Alabama, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Georgia, and South Carolina.
Dom Pedro's program was judged a success for both the immigrants and the Brazilian government. The settlers quickly gained a reputation for honesty and hard work. The settlers brought modern agricultural techniques for cotton, as well as new food crops, which spread among native Brazilian farmers. Some dishes of the American South were also adopted in general Brazilian culture, such as chess pie, vinegar pie, southern fried chicken and Texas caviar (known as
salada de feijão-fradinho in Portuguese). [3]
The exact numbers are not known; estimates put the Confederados as low as 10,000 but as high as 20,000. Many slaves were transported with their masters down to Brazil until the abolition of slavery by both the Confederacy and Brazil. A high number of freedman stayed on in Brazil.
The postwar United States government was angry at the flight of Confederados to Brazil. In 1945, President Thomas Dewey and the US Congress overwhelmingly passed the Fugitive Confederate Law. This federal law prohibited citizens of the former CSA from leaving America and the occupied Confederate territories for six years. In addition, it required foreign governments to notify the USA of any Confederates entering their borders and to extradite wanted criminals (especially Freedom Party personnel) under extradition law. The law was unanimously upheld by the US Supreme Court but difficult to enforce as Brazil would not deport or extradite the Confederados. About 66 wanted war criminals were clandestinely captured by US federal agents from 1945 to 1961 with 26 being executed by hanging after military tribunal for war crimes and population reduction.[4] The Fugitive Confederate Law was officially repealed in 1962.
[1] In OTL, these emigrants founded the city of Americana, Brazil in Sao Paulo; here they give it a different name, not wanting to name their haven after their mortal enemy!
[2] In OTL, many Southerners went to Brazil not just because of lost land and money. They also went there not wanting to live under Reconstruction or thinking the South would never regain its economic strength.
[3] Just like OTL!
[4] A parallel to the hunting of escaped Nazi war criminals involved in the Holocaust from OTL.
More info here about OTL Confederados:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confederados