Posted on 04/27/2015 3:51:01 PM PDT by drewh
It had all the trappings of a down-home country fair somewhere well below the Mason-Dixon line: Lynyrd Skynyrd medleys, mile-long lines for fried chicken, barbecue and draft beer, and a plethora of Confederate flags emblazoning everything from belt buckles to motorcycle vests to trucker caps.
But Sunday's party marking the 150th anniversary of the end of the American Civil War took about 5,000 miles (8,000 kilometers) south of the South, in a rural Brazilian town colonized by families fleeing Reconstruction.
Thousands turn out every year, including many who trace their ancestry back to the dozens of families who, enticed by the Brazilian government's offers of land grants, settled here from 1865 to around 1875. They're joined by country music enthusiasts, history buffs and locals with a hankering for buttermilk biscuits or a fondness for 'The Dukes of Hazzard.'
The history of the Confederate migrants is one of the lesser-known stories of the Civil War, said Casey Clabough, author of the 2012 historical novel 'Confederados.' It's not even known for sure how many people made the arduous journey, Clabough said, with some historical accounts suggesting as few as 3,000, while others say there were as many as 10,000, predominantly from deep south states like Alabama, Louisiana and Georgia.
Most were lured by newspaper ads placed in the wake of the war by the government of Brazil's then-emperor, Dom Pedro II, promising land grants to those who would help colonize the South American country's vast and little-explored interior. 'They were seen as desirable, educated colonists,' said Clabough.
Legend has it that Dom Pedro himself was on hand at Rio's port to greet the first batch of Confederados, mostly enlisted men and small family farmers who were then dispatched to rural areas of the surrounding states.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Note name of city, Americana. Still held onto their roots 150 years ago.
What was not mentioned is that teenager are not sent back to America to see their roots. Interesting story.
I thought it was an outstanding movie. Rough, violent, true.
A real story. IT was Emmy Award type of movie.
My understanding is the have become pretty much Portuguese speaking Brazilians.
That’s one, Ah say that’s one funny critter.
C-SPAN3 has been running some interesting programs having to do with the end of the Civil War on recent weekends. One segment dealt with the Confederados. It seems about half of them eventually returned to the US. Some of them had it pretty rough in Brazil—one speaker read something from one of the settlers (either letters or a diary, I forget) describing his life there the first few years, a very difficult life.
The stories are interesting. Over the years we have made vacation trips to a small island called Elbow Quay off Great Abaco. We have gotten to learn the long term residents whose families are almost originally from Charleston. They supported the Crown during the Revolution. The next island, Man-of-War, has a number of exiled Confederates. My daughter in law have ancestors who migrated to Michigan from Canada in the late 1800s. They were originally from Massachusetts, again Loyalists who went to Canada when we gained independence.
ummmm. Arkansas? lolz :)
Ping
I have been in Fredericton, New Brunswick, which was founded by Loyalists. I don’t know if any of their tombstones survive because of the toll the climate took on the stones. By 1812 enough non-Loyalists from the US had emigrated to Ontario that Jefferson thought that the area could be easily conquered in an American invasion, that it would “just be a matter of marching.” Instead the US invasion seems to have generated a stronger desire to remain British on the part of the inhabitants.
39
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.