The Brazilian Confederates
One of my friends was home in the States for Christmas, and brought back a fascinating article from the very Southern "Garden & Gun" magazine. The article, which you can read here, follows the journey of an American Southerner to one of the former Confederate communities in rural Sao Paulo. I'd known about the Confederados and I think the story is completely fascinating, so I decided the topic deserved a post to itself.
In a nutshell, at the encouragement of the Brazilian emperor, thousands of American Southerners emigrated to Brazil after the Civil War, starting American outposts throughout Brazil, with the most important communities in Sao Paulo state. Life wasn't easy, and many died of malaria and other diseases. But the communities prospered, and the Southerners became successful cotton and watermelon farmers. Bit by bit, some began to integrate into Brazilian society by marrying locals. Today, the most famous Confederate city in Brazil is Santa Barbara D'Oeste, as well as Americana. Every year, the descendants of the Confederates meet and have a Southern-style party, with traditional belle outfits and Southern dances.
Check out this really interesting video about the Confederados in English:
Resources
Confederate Party in Brazil (video)
A Brief History of the Confederate Colonies in Brazil
The Story of the US Confederates in Brazil
That is SO interesting!!! I really loved watching this! And can I also say that I hope to one day speak portuguese! The girl in this video that is speaking portuguese I love the way she speaks!
Posted by: Mrs S | January 04, 2009 at 11:42 AM
Rachel,
I like history, had a lot of fun reading all the links and the videos in your great post.
Thank you
Ray
Posted by: Ray Adkins | January 04, 2009 at 11:48 AM
wow, I found your blog and I got surprised about the way you speak about brazilian tales... lol..
A lot of brazilian dont know about what you told in this post. I liked this subject, congratulation!
Posted by: Anderson | January 04, 2009 at 02:46 PM
that was so interesting
Posted by: Paul Dryden | January 04, 2009 at 04:48 PM
That was INCREDIBLE! I never heard of that in all of my life.
Posted by: JC | January 04, 2009 at 09:12 PM
Rachel Rachel Rachel! I love this stuff!! I enjoy reading your blog very much and you never disappoint.
Posted by: Lisa | January 05, 2009 at 09:51 PM
Interesting, but I wonder if they are racists.
Posted by: Lexi | January 08, 2009 at 11:03 PM