House Nixxa
Oh, I'm a good old Rebel,
Now that's what I am;
For the "fair land of Freedom"
I do nor care a dam.
I'm glad I fit against it-
I only wish we'd won.
And I don't want no pardon
For anything I done.
In the months and years that followed after the civil war, the former Confederates began to adjust to defeat. One of the ways the Confederates adjusted was through organized emigration, in hopes of recreating the old order. In his book Ghosts of the Confederacy: Defeat, the Lost Cause and the Emergence of the New South, 1865-1913 LSU Professor Gaines M. Foster probes into how white southerners adjusted to and interpreted their defeat and explores the cultural implications of a central event in American history.
The first Confederates to flee to other countries did so shortly after the Battle of Appomattox Court House in order to escape federal persecution. They usually traveled to Mexico or Cuba, then on to Canada, England or France. Few never returned, these refugees rarely intended to become permanent exiles. Most settled in Canada and returned to the United States when political conditions allowed. In the summer and fall of 1865 the Confederate exodus changed from individuals fleeing to organized groups of southerners seeking permanent settlement in Mexico, Brazil or other Latin American Countries. The emigration movement continued into 1870s, most emigré left in 1866 and 1867.
Motivations of individual emigrants varied. Some sought better economic opportunities, others could not face living in a society with free blacks and few longed for adventure. The movement might be considered a “utopian dream” of Confederates who could not accept the results of the war. None of the Confederate Colonies would come close to restoring the old order. A lack of capital, hostility from local residents, and the rugged terrain of settlement sites contributed to their failure, but the settlers own utopian dream did not help. Today in some countries you can still see the influence of the Confederate culture such as Americana, Sao Paulo .
