Tag: Immigration

On Some Expats

Since I’ve not found a permanent home outside of the United States as of yet, I’m classified as an expatriate or expat. Once I find some place and settle, I’ll then become an immigrant. This is the story of about 20,000 other American expats, most of whom became immigrants in the South American nation of Brazil.

The last Emperor of Brazil was Don Pedro II. In the 1860s, he wished to diversify his nation’s agricultural exports to Europe’s eager markets. Thus, he made it incredibly easy for American farmers to come to Brazil and get cheap land and help Brazil become much more of an agricultural exporter.

As said above, over 20,000 Americans brought their families south and set up farming in Brazil. Interestingly, until that time, Brazil had been a diverse national ethnically but had been almost 100% Catholic religiously. The expats who came there from the US built the first protestant churches and cemeteries that Brazil ever saw.

Now, Brazil was certainly a difficult change for many of the Americans. The language and culture challenged many of the expats as they sought to raise their children as “American” as possible within the confines of the Brazilian nation. Guide books were written and published in the US detailing how to make the giant leap and move to Brazil and raise your kids while maintaining your “American-ness.” The most famous of these books was Hunting a Home in Brazil and published in 1867.

Some of the Americans brought their metal plows with them, and these technological marvels caused the native Brazilian famers to gasp with awe. An agricultural school was set up to teach the Brazilians the latest farming techniques. The settlements in Brazil grew quickly, and, today, the Brazilian city of Americana boasts over 200,000 residents, many of them descendants of those early American expats turned immigrants.

What do you think made so many Americans accept Emperor Don Pedro II’s offer to come help Brazil’s agricultural sector? Well, if you know anything about American History, you know that the early 1860s saw the American Civil War.

And those more than 20,000 American expats–known today as Confederados–who left the United States for a fresh start?

They were American slave owners who couldn’t stand the idea of living in a nation that had outlawed slavery.

On an Immigrant

Odds are that, if you are an American, you have an opinion about immigration. The issue of undocumented aliens coming to America is certainly not a new one. All throughout the history of this land, people who have come here illegally have been seen as being suspect and, often, treated as inferior and unwelcome.  Germans, the Irish, immigrants from southern and eastern Europe, Asians, and many other groups have all been shunned as being “different“ and, therefore, un-American.

It has been rare that someone from American History has welcomed foreigners and treated them with respect. Rebecca was one such person.

Rebecca was, by all accounts, a strange child from birth. She grew up gregarious and inquisitive in a period when women were encouraged to be neither. Hers was a family of privilege and power, her father holding a position of authority in her town. So to say that she was different than the other girls around her would be accurate. Perhaps that’s why she had such tolerance for other people who were labeled as being different since Rebecca was much the same herself.

There was one famous instance when she was in her teens when an illegal alien had been captured by some of the local men. Rebecca insisted that he be treated fairly. In fact, she brought him food and water during his incarceration, making sure that his needs were met. When some of the men in her town wanted to punish the immigrant man, Rebecca actually spoke up for him and even went to her dad and asked for mercy on the man’s behalf. Her father, touched by the compassion his daughter showed, granted the man leniency.

Yes, Rebecca’s attitude was rare in a period of great intolerance. Her era is much like ours, today, sadly. In a time when illegal immigrants are viewed with outright hatred in some quarters, we need more people like Rebecca who will speak for those who are different from us, speak for those who are coming to America to make a better lives for themselves and their families. After all, we are all immigrants, right?

The man Rebecca spoke up for was a man named John Smith. Captain John Smith, in fact. He was an Englishman, an Englishman in the early 1600s who came to America and settled, illegally, on land settled first by indigenous Americans.

Rebecca, you see, was this young woman’s Christian name. She is better known in history by one of her her native names: Pocahontas.