After the American Civil War, some 10,000 to 20,000 Confederate citizens immigrated to what country?

At the end of the Civil War in 1865, it is true that approximately 10,000 to 20,000 Confederate citizens fled the United States to Brazil. Santa Barbara d´Oeste, Brazil was in fact the place where thousands of Confederate Americans wanted to live. A much larger number would have emigrated had not the still-revered Confederate General Robert E. Lee publicly urged Southerners to stay in the U.S. Most of the people who immigrated really wanted to start new lives. Some however did want to re-create what they had before the war.

The 10,000 to almost 20,000 immigrants were called "Confederados" when they reached Brazil. Their community was dubbed Villa Americana by native Brazilians, and in time its official name became Americana. These Confederados or most of them reverted back in time to their agricultural roots. They also decided that they then needed to use slavery. It was allowed in Brazil and not abolished until 1888. However, the rain forest and the changing climate of Brazil made it extremely difficult for certain crops to grow. The transplanted Confederate Americans and their families, who became farmers, were ultimately sucked into the Brazilian urbanization process in the 1900s.

Even after many years and while some of the descendants lost their English proficiency, they never let go of their heritage. To keep their history alive, some Confederate descendants in 1988 established a small museum in Santa Bárbara d'Oeste.