Immigration fueled the growth of the United States. It long served as an attractive destination for those seeking refuge or opportunity. Within that rich historical context it’s difficult to conceive of emigration, of people desiring to leave or even desperate to do so. However, that’s exactly what happened with the Confederados.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Large swaths of the American south lay in ruins after four bloody years of conflict during the civil war (1861-1865). Confederate families fighting to preserve the status quo lost the war decisively. They also lost most everything else they held dear. That included their way of life, their economy, their personal fortunes, plus an entire generation maimed or destroyed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As a result, their social structure changed drastically. A plantation economy based on slavery simply could not exist. Thus, with their multiple misfortunes, many of the Confederates became disillusioned and bitter. The postwar Reconstruction brought occupation, humiliation and hardship to a conquered people as their lives adjusted to a new reality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Most of the old Confederates returned home and rebuilt their shattered lives as best they could, although not easily and smoothly by any means, in the legacy of the Lost Cause. People talked of the “War of Northern Aggression” as I grew up, still a raw spot on the collective memory more than a century later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n