Confederados

The Confederados (Portuguese pronunciation: [kõfedeˈɾadus]) were some 20,000 Confederates who immigrated to Brazil, chiefly to the state of São Paulo, from the Southern United States after the American Civil War. Although many eventually returned to the United States, some remained and descendants of Confederados can be found in many cities throughout Brazil.

In 1865 at the end of the American Civil War a substantial number of Southerners left the South; many moved to other parts of the United States, such as the American West, but a few left the country entirely. The most popular country of Southerners emigration was Brazil.

Emperor Dom Pedro II of Brazil wanted to encourage the cultivation of cotton. After the American Civil War Dom Pedro offered the potential immigrants subsidies on transport to Brazil, cheap land, and tax breaks. Former 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 Northern rule under Reconstruction.

Many Southerners who took the Emperor's offer had lost their land during the war, were unwilling to live under a conquering army, or simply did not expect an improvement in the South's economic position. In addition, Brazil still had slavery (and did not abolish it until 1888). Most of the immigrants were from the states of Alabama, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Georgia, and South Carolina.

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