History
The Confederacy Is Still Alive In Brazil
After the civil war, thousands of people fled to South America
Thousands of people fled abolitionism in the hope of continuing their horrific lifestyle of slavery in Brazil after the American Civil War.
One example is William H. Norris. He was a former Alabama state senator and loved the Confederacy dearly. But despite losing the Civil War, Norris didn’t want to give up. So, he moved to Brazil in 1865 and purchased some land that reminded him of Alabama.
What did he do next? William H. Norris tried to live as if the Confederacy never collapsed. He purchased multiple slaves, cultivated cotton, and continued an abhorrent lifestyle in Southeastern Brazil.
It’s estimated that 20,000 people fled Southern states after the Civil War. Like William H. Norris, they didn’t want to give up on their repulsive dream of the Confederacy. For them, Brazil was a great choice because slavery was still legal. “They came to continue having slaves,” said Luciana Brito, a Brazillian historian during an interview with The Washington Post. “They associated the existence of slavery in Brazil with the maintenance of a system of racial subservience.”
Sadly, Brazil imported over ten times as many enslaved individuals as the United States. In fact, it took several decades for Brazil to outlaw slavery throughout the country.
American Confederates who grew and processed cotton established a slew of farms. With the erection of the Santa Barbara Station by the Companhia Paulista de Estrada de Ferro in 1875, they started a local industry.
Because of the presence of the Confederate immigrants, the community that grew up around the Station was dubbed “Vila dos Americanos,” or “Vila Americana,” and gave birth to the modern city of Americana. It now has a population of 242,000 people. It’s also home to many descendants of Confederates who moved to the region in the 1800s.
According to The Washington Post, Confederate flags still fly in some regions of Brazil. However, the times are gradually changing, and locals want a statue removed that depicts a 17th-century settler who enslaved indigenous people. “Protests for black equality have rumbled through several cities. And in Americana and Santa Bárbara d’Oeste, the cities founded by the Confederates, Brazilians who have never been to the United States are increasingly asking questions piercingly familiar to Americans: Where should the Confederacy be remembered — on a flagpole, or in a museum?”
The Confederacy moving to Brazil is one of history’s lesser-known stories. And while racism from Confederates certainly played a role in Americana’s past, it doesn’t have to be part of the city’s future.
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Authors note: I wrote this story solely to highlight how racism and evil from history continues in the modern world. We should reject racism, bigotry, and any other forms of hate speech that seek to vilify others.