Many Southerners had lost their land during the war and some were unwilling to live under the
Federal government. They did not expect an improvement in the South's economic position. Most of the emigrants were from the
states of
Alabama,
Texas,
Louisiana,
Mississippi,
Georgia,
South Carolina, and
Missouri.[citation needed] It is unknown how many American southerners emigrated to
Latin America. As noted in unpublished research, Betty Antunes de Oliveira found in port records of
Rio de Janeiro that some 20,000 Americans entered Brazil from 1865 to 1885. Other researchers have estimated the number at 10,000.[1] An unknown number returned to the United States after the end of
Reconstruction, but many of the remaining immigrants who stayed adopted
Brazilian citizenship.
In Mexico,
Emperor Maximilian had encouraged and subsidized foreign colonization with land grants and appropriation of land. After the French withdrew their support of Maximilian and he was defeated in 1867, these colonies ceased to exist. The land titles were not recognized by the victorious Mexican republicans, who had spent years fighting an Imperial government that was imposed upon them.[citation needed]
^Tigay, Alan M. "
The Deepest South". American Heritage. 49 (2). April 1998. pp. 84–95. Retrieved 25 August 2008.
Further reading
Michael L. Conniff and Cyrus B. Dawsey, editors, The Confederados: Old South Immigrants in Brazil. Auburn: University of Alabama. The Confederados: Old South Immigrants in Brazil, Auburn: University of Alabama.
Alan M. Tigay,
"The Deepest South", American Heritage 49(2), April 1998, pp. 84–95
Judith McKnight Jones, a descendant, wrote about the immigration and family trees. Her book Soldado Descansa lists some 400 families and is in Portuguese.
Auburn University in
Alabama maintains a special collection of material related to the Confederado immigration, including correspondence, memoirs, genealogies, and newspaper clippings, especially related to Colonel Norris.