{"id":60562,"date":"2025-08-22T14:58:18","date_gmt":"2025-08-22T12:58:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/?p=60562"},"modified":"2025-09-02T23:44:55","modified_gmt":"2025-09-02T21:44:55","slug":"santa-barbara-doeste-a-cemetery-in-brazil-with-a-large-confederate-flag","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/2025\/08\/22\/santa-barbara-doeste-a-cemetery-in-brazil-with-a-large-confederate-flag\/","title":{"rendered":"Santa B\u00e1rbara d'Oeste, a cemetery in Brazil with a large Confederate flag"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Confederate States of America was an independent country that emerged from the secession of the southern states of the United States between 1861 and 1865.<\/p>\n

Two Confederate graves from the American Civil War in Normandy, France<\/a><\/rel>
\nThe old grave of a United States Army captain in which a stove is buried<\/a><\/rel><\/p>\n

With the end of the Civil War on May 26, 1865, came the end of one of the Confederacy's main raisons d'\u00eatre: the defense of slavery<\/strong>, understood as the right of ownership of slaves by their owners. For many slaves, obtaining freedom was not the end of their nightmares: they had to endure for decades the actions of the Ku Klux Klan<\/strong>, a violent group founded by Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest, in addition to racial segregation<\/strong>, which remained in force until 1964.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/div>\n
Jimmy Carter during his visit to the Santa B\u00e1rbara d'Oeste American Cemetery in Brazil in 1972 (Photo: Slyscamp<\/a>).<\/div>\n

In 1865, many Confederate sympathizers decided to emigrate because they did not feel comfortable in a country without slaves<\/strong>, that is, where others had the same right as they did to be masters of their lives. Some 20,000 Confederates left for the Empire of Brazil,<\/strong> where slavery remained legal until the passage of the Golden Law on May 13, 1888. Emperor Pedro II of Brazil welcomed them, due to their experience in cotton farming<\/strong>, and offered them land at reasonable prices. The Confederates settled there happily because slaves in Brazil were cheaper<\/strong> than they had been in the Confederate states, and this allowed them to do good business.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/div>\n
The large Confederate battle flag painted at the Santa Barbara American Cemetery (Photo: Jo\u00e3o Leopoldo Padoveze<\/a>).<\/div>\n

Many Confederates settled in the state of S\u00e3o Paulo, where they founded a town called Americana<\/strong> in 1875 in the municipality of Santa B\u00e1rbara d'Oeste. Until 1904, the town was known as Vila dos Americanos<\/strong> (Village of the Americans) and formed its own municipality in 1953. Today it has 237,240 inhabitants<\/strong> and an area of \u200b\u200b133.91 square kilometers.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/div>\n
Descendant of the Confederate settlers of Brazil at the XXVI \"Festa Confederada\", with Southern uniforms from the Civil War (Photo: Jo\u00e3o Leopoldo Padoveze<\/a>).<\/div>\n

One of the problems for the Confederates in their new home was that the Empire of Brazil was confessionally Catholic<\/strong>, according to the Imperial Constitution of 1824. The emigrants from the former Confederate States were Protestants and could not be buried in Catholic cemeteries<\/strong>, so one of their first needs to be covered was the construction of their own burial site.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/div>\n
Confederate flags at the Santa Barbara American Cemetery in April 2014 (Photo: Jo\u00e3o Leopoldo Padoveze<\/a>).<\/div>\n

The so-called Santa Barbara d'Oeste American Cemetery<\/strong> began to form on July 13, 1867, when Beatrice Oliver, wife of Confederate Colonel Asa Thompson Oliver<\/strong>, died and was buried by her husband on his land, following a Southern custom. Shortly after, Oliver also had to bury his two daughters, Inglianna and Mildredd Oliver,<\/strong> who died of tuberculosis. Since other members of the Confederate colony in Brazil were not allowed to bury their dead in Catholic cemeteries, Colonel Oliver allowed them to use his land as a burial site<\/strong>, becoming official in 1873.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/div>\n
Descendants of Confederates who emigrated to Brazil dancing at a \"Festa Confederada\" (Confederate Festival) celebrated at this cemetery in 2014 (Photo: Jo\u00e3o Leopoldo Padoveze<\/a>).<\/div>\n

The cemetery chapel was built in 1878,<\/strong> serving the various Protestant denominations of the members of the Confederate colony (Methodists, Presbyterians, and Baptists). The chapel was rebuilt several times, the current one being in 1962. Since 1954, the cemetery has been managed by the Fellowship of American Descent (FDA),<\/strong> a foundation formed by the descendants of Confederates who emigrated to Brazil. In 1972, the cemetery was visited by Democratic politician Jimmy Carter (later President of the United States from 1977 to 1981)<\/strong>, when he was Governor of Georgia. In this video by Aluisio Bertalia<\/a> we can see a tour of this cemetery:<\/p>\n