Carpetbagger Definition History

Following the american civil war if someone called you a carpetbagger or scalawag it wasn t meant as a compliment.

Carpetbagger definition history. Share flipboard email print 1872 harper s weekly political cartoon of carl schurz depicted as a carpetbagger which reflected southern attitudes toward northerners during reconstruction. Carpetbagger definition a northerner who went to the south after the civil war and became active in republican politics especially so as to profiteer from the unsettled social and political conditions of the area during reconstruction. Someone who tries to be elected as a politician in a place away from their home because they. The term is now used in the united states to refer to a parachute candidate that is an outsider who runs.

Carpetbagger definition is a northerner in the south after the american civil war usually seeking private gain under the reconstruction governments. Carpetbagger is a term from the united states political history. If you call someone a carpetbagger you disapprove of them because they are trying to. Sixty carpetbaggers were elected to congress among them were most republican governors in the south during reconstruction.

Carpetbagger derogatory term originally used in the u s. The term carpetbagger used exclusively as a pejorative term originated from the carpet bags a form of cheap luggage made from carpet fabric which many of these newcomers carried. The term came to be associated with opportunism and exploitation by outsiders. White southerners feared they would loot the defeated south.

In general the term carpetbagger refers to a traveler who arrives in a new region with only a satchel or carpetbag of possessions and who attempts to profit from or gain. Meaning pronunciation translations and examples. A carpetbagger was a northerner who moved to the south after the american civil war this period is called the reconstruction era. The term carpetbagger was used by opponents of reconstruction the period.