Confederates in Neuquen

NOTE: I DO NOT CONDONE, ENDORSE OR SUPPORT THE CONFEDERATE STATES IN ANY WAY, SHAPE OR FORM.

The Confederates of Neuquen, also White Southerners in Neuquen, Neuquen Confederates and also derogatorily known locally as Dicksies (derived from Dixie, another word for the Confederate States), are a cultural and ethnic sub-group in Neuquen, the second-largest city in Patagonia, and its homonymous state. They are the descendants of Confederates, mostly those accused as traitors, who fled to British Patagonia with their families during and after the American Civil War.

History

As the American Civil War erupted, British colonial leaders in Patagonia saw an opportunity to profit from the sale of arms and weapons to the Union. Soon a profitable trade in arms to Americans boosted the colonial economy and British Patagonia became sympathetic to the Union cause. The colonial governor and other officials were also interested in recruiting American Southerners accused of betraying the Confederates who were knowledgeable in the cultivation of cotton and sugar.

Confederate immigrants were offered substantial subsidies and tax breaks. General Robert E. Lee and former Mississippi Governor John J. McRae advised Southerners not to flee to Central or South America but many ignored their advice and attempted to establish a new plantation economy in the English speaking colony. Many Southerners who took the governor's offers of land at a reduced price were fugitives from the American government, and many had simply lost everything during the war.

Present status

At least 83 thousand people in the country are descendants of the Confederate settlers in Neuquen and are not entirely evenly-distributed across the country. Confederate communities also exist in the national capital Port Byron, the largest city Meliepully and in smaller cities such as Oshovia, Darwin and in the Valdes Peninsula.

The first generation of Confederates in Patagonia remained an island community. As is typical, in the third generation, most families had already married native Patagonians or immigrants from other origins. Confederate descendants increasingly began to speak the Patagonian variety of English and identify themselves as Patagonians. As the region around the city of Neuquen and neighboring Roca City became a hub for chocolate production and society became more mobile, the Confederates moved to larger cities in search of jobs in urban areas.

Currently, only a few families of descendants still live on land owned by their ancestors. The descendants of the Confederates are more spread throughout Patagonia. They maintain their organization's headquarters in the town of Plottier, often known as "New Dixie" by locals.

The southern American immigrants introduced into their new home many new foods, such as pecans, Georgia peanuts, peaches and watermelon; new tools such as the iron plow and kerosene lamps; innovations such as modern dentistry, modern agriculture, and the first blood transfusion; and the first Baptist churches. Some foods of the American South also crossed over and became part of general Patagonian culture such as pumpkin pie, sweet potato pie and southern fried chicken. The immigrants also established public schools and provided education to their female children.

Discrimination

The descendants of Confederates in Neuquen face discrimination and alienation from other ethnic groups, most notably the Rionegrine New Englanders, who have had a rivalry with ethnic Confederates in Neuquen since their arrivals from between 1863 to 1885 due to their conflicting ideals (New Englanders supported the Union in the Civil War). This rivalry has led to ethnic clashes between descendants of New Englanders and descendants of Confederates, one of them being the infamous 2001 Plottier murders.