Brazilian Fever Part 2: The Confederates Who Fled to Brazil to Preserve Their Way of Life

Blogger: Amber Lemus

Last month we introduced the topic of "Brazilian Fever", or the little-known fact that thousands of Southern Americans emigrated out of the country following the Civil War. We discussed the background and motivations for these families to uproot and move to another country. This month we're taking a deeper dive into the lives of the families, and what transpired after they left their homeland for Brazil. If you missed part one, you can view it by clicking here. 

William Norris
Public Domain

Somewhere between ten and twenty thousand Southerners immigrated to Brazil in the aftermath of the Civil War, many of them settling outside of Santa Barbara, forming a town known as Americana. One of the men to head up this move to Brazil was William Norris. William was originally from Georgia but had moved to Alabama to become an influential member of society there. Not only did he serve as a senator of the Alabama legislature, but also served as a representative in the State House. He was also elected Grand Master of the Alabama Masonic Lodge. 

Norris was the owner of a cotton plantation, so in the aftermath of the Civil War, he couldn't imagine spending his life under the government of the Union, especially with the loss of slave labor. He decided to travel to Brazil to investigate the claims that the emperor would grant them land and other incentives to move their cotton operation there. 

On December 27, 1865, Norris, his son, and his brother arrived in Rio De Janero. They found a plot of land they liked, that apparently reminded them of Alabama, and founded a settlement. They purchased slaves and started farming cotton once again. Norris sent a glowing report back home, and by 1867, the rest of his family had moved to Brazil as well, along with many other families from the region. They brought watermelon plants to Brazil and enhanced the agriculture in the area. Somewhere around 54 families moved to Brazil and purchased over 530 slaves upon arrival. Although not all of the families settled in Americana, this town was one of the only settlements to actually survive and thrive. 

By Steagall -
 Imigrantes Americanos no Brasil, PD-US

At its peak in the late 1800's, Americana was home to over 3500 "Confederados" as they were called in Brazil. Naturally, the settlement began with a very isolated culture, the families worshipping and marrying only amongst each other, but as the new generations reached adulthood, they were more likely to leave the colony for the larger Brazilian towns, intermarry with Brazilians, and assimilate into Brazilian culture. 

The Norris House - First house of Confederate immigrants
in the colony. 
Public Domain

Americana, however, did not escape the dark shadow of racism. About the time that slavery was finally outlawed in Brazil, Jim Crowe laws were being strictly enforced in the American South. Some of the families returned to their homeland to live in segregated areas. Of those who remained, one of the Confederados near Americana put together a lynching party and murdered a police chief who was pro abolition in 1888. However, Brazilian culture focused more on class distinctions than racial barriers, and they did not have segregation and laws against interracial marriage, therefore the races mixed and eventually the Confederados opinions on race were changed. In fact, the descendants of the Confederados assimilated so much that they abandoned the English language, and the towns became barely distinguishable from the surrounding ones. 

The Confederados also brought a lot of good to Brazil. “They enriched our society with their progressive mind, their capacity for action, and their technical competence, and perhaps in the hearts of their São Paulo descendants has filtered a little of that love of freedom, an American tradition, and that pride of the old planter that is a Southern tradition.” sociologist Jose Arthur Rios observed in 1947. They introduced many new foods such as pecans, Georgian peanuts, and watermelons. They brought tools and innovations to the country such as modern dentistry, kerosene lamps, agricultural machinery, and even blood transfusions which the Brazilian people had never seen before. They established Protestantism and founded churches, cemeteries and schools. Public schools had not been introduced to Brazil until this time, and it was also a foreign concept to permit girls to attend and become literate as well as the boys, a barrier that the Confederados plowed right through. 

Descendents dressed in Confederate attire during the yearly festival in Americana, Brazil
By Felipeattilio - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0

Today, the main remnant of these Confederate immigrants is the pageantry, music, and most interestingly, its flag. Each year, the town of Americana holds a festival to honor the founders with traditional Civil-War Era attire, foods, dances and music. The proceeds from this festival go to fund the upkeep of the cemetery. The festival has become a controversial topic, however, due to the proud display of Confederate flags, uniforms, etc. While some say that their intent is to celebrate their heritage and keep it alive, others feel it also celebrates the hatred and racism that the Confederados represented. 

Regardless, it is an interesting thread of history and I hope you enjoyed learning about it. 

*****

Two-time winner of the Christian Indie Award for historical fiction, Amber Lemus inspires hearts through enthralling tales She has a passion for travel, history, books and her Savior. This combination results in what her readers call "historical fiction at its finest".  

She lives near the Ozarks in her "casita" with her prince charming. Between enjoying life as a boy mom, and spinning stories out of soap bubbles, Amber loves to connect with readers and hang out on Goodreads with other bookish peoples.

Amber is a proud member of the American Christian Fiction Writers Association. Visit her online at http://www.amberlemus.com/ and download a FREE story by subscribing to her Newsletter!

Brazilian Fever Part 1: To Go or Not To Go

Blogger: Amber Lemus

It is in our human nature to fear and avoid change. One of the starkest examples of this is the people of the American South during the Antebellum and Reconstruction eras and brings us to one of the lesser-known chapters of Civil War history.

As the American Civil War came to a close, and the reconstruction began, there were many in the South who could not tolerate the changes that were coming to the country. The Confederates claimed to have fought the war to "preserve their way of life" and that battle had been lost, so many were searching for a way to continue life as they knew it before the war.

The newspapers called it "Brazilian Fever", although Brazil was not the only country that Southerners were considering as an alternative to their homeland. Honduras, Venezuela, and Mexico all offered incentives for planters, especially cotton growers, to immigrate and start plantations or teach cotton growing to others in the country.

Emperor Dom Pedro II of Brazil Circa 1865 Public Domain

 

 It was Brazil, however that had the most enticing offer. Emperor Dom Pedro II offered free transport, cheap or free land, and an easy path to citizenship for cotton planters, because he hoped to capitalize on the downfall of the American South's cotton production and build his economy by exporting cotton to the looms of England and France, who had relied so heavily on Southern production. An even greater draw was that slavery was still legal in Brazil. And as some Southern immigrants noted, slaves were cheap. An important detail for plantation growers who had lost all of their previous workers to emancipation in the United States and couldn't imagine farming successfully without enslaved labor.

This phenomenon was noted in the September 14, 1865 issue of The Times-Picayune Newspaper from New Orleans:

We observe that, in some parts of the country, people are still making preparations to emigrate to Brazil. Immediately after the war, it was supposed that, in consequence of broken fortunes, disappointed hopes, and an 'indisposition to yield placable obedience to the restored authority of the Federal Government' there would be a great exodus from the Southern States...

The article goes on to state:

Moreover, there are other reasons, in the case of Brazil, which ought to check this feeling. Many persons who, from long habit and fondly cherished theories, have become strongly attached to the institution of African slavery, fancy that in Brazil they will find an opportunity for the permanent use of that system of labor Brazil and the Spanish possessions being the only two slaveholding communities remaining in the civilized world. But such hopes would probably be doomed to speedy disappointment. There is not only no guarantee for the continued existence of slave labor in Brazil, but the indications are that emancipation is rapidly approaching in that country. Even the regulations not long since issued and republished by us, which were intended expressly to attract immigration, strongly exhibit the anti-slavery spirit of the Government; and more recently propositions for emancipation have been made and have met with strong support in the Brazilian Parliament. It is almost certain that the time is not distant when that proposition will be carried.

Such persons as might have gone to Brazil with the idea of preserving their association with African slavery, will then find that they have made an exchange in which they lose all and gain nothing.

The article seems an attempt to dissuade readers from embracing the idea of immigration, claiming that the "South needs all her men of thought, of energy, and of intellect, to aid in the great work. of reconstruction." and deeming those who flee to another country "cowards" and the act "censurable" while also emphasizing the risks of such a journey and the uncertainty of the future in other countries, specifically Brazil. This article certainly paints a clear picture of how torn the Southern culture was, and how difficult a decision of this magnitude must have been for those trying to rebuild their lives and fortunes after the war.

Depiction of Slavery in Brazil by Jean-Baptiste Debret
An enslaved person enduring severe punishment in 19th century Brazil
Public Domain

Others, however, were outspoken in their belief that Brazil was the perfect place to rebuild. One such advocate was Colonel Charles Gunter who wrote a letter to a newspaper saying, “Move here (Brazil) and buy land. We have here a beautiful place for our village, in the center of rich land, and on a grand river.”


Historians scoured letters, journals, and property deeds to decide what the main motivation was for these Southerners to make such a drastic move as to uproot their lives and take them to countries like Brazil. Luciana Brito, a historian at the Federal University of Recôncavo da Bahia told the Washington Post: “They came to continue having slaves. They associated the existence of slavery in Brazil with the maintenance of a system of racial subservience.” Historians such as Brito found that over three-fourths of the families that petitioned Brazil for immigration were slave holders prior to the emancipation. And they purchased slaves as soon as they arrived in Brazil.


Whatever their motivation for doing so, somewhere between ten and twenty thousand people immigrated from southern states to Brazil. The main colony that was formed there became known as the town of Americana, and we will go into more detail on that colony and the family that led them there next month. So be sure to come back on April 2nd to check out that post.


See you next month!

*****

Two-time winner of the Christian Indie Award for historical fiction, Amber Lemus inspires hearts through enthralling tales She has a passion for travel, history, books and her Savior. This combination results in what her readers call "historical fiction at its finest".

She lives near the Ozarks in her "casita" with her prince charming. Between enjoying life as a boy mom, and spinning stories out of soap bubbles, Amber loves to connect with readers and hang out on Goodreads with other bookish peoples.

Amber is a proud member of the American Christian Fiction Writers Association. Visit her online at http://www.amberlemus.com/ and download a FREE story by subscribing to her Newsletter!