Define Carpetbaggers Us History

Carpetbagger in the united states a derogatory term for an individual from the north who relocated to the south during the reconstruction period 1865 77 following the american civil war the term was applied to northern politicians and financial adventurers whom southerners accused of coming to the south to use the newly enfranchised freedmen as a means of obtaining office or profit.

Define carpetbaggers us history.

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. A term often associated with carpetbagger was scalawag the term was used to describe a white southerner who worked with members of the republican party and supported reconstruction policies. Carpetbaggers was the highly derisive name given to northerners who went south after the fall of the confederate states of america csa seeking personal financial gain or political advancement during the reconstruction era following the american civil war april 12 1861 may 10 1865. The term came to be associated with opportunism and exploitation by outsiders.

Carpetbagger definition us history. Civil war especially during the reconstruction era 1865 1877 in order to profit from the instability and power vacuum that existed at this time. Summary and definition of carpetbaggers summary and definition. A great many contemporary observers believed that the real purpose behind radical reconstruction was to secure the domination of the republican party in national political life through the newly freed population in the south.

The republicans took for granted that the freed slaves would vote republican. In united states history a carpetbagger was a northerner who moved to the south after the u s.