Carpetbagger Definition History

It was applied to politicians and financial adventurers whom southerners accused of coming south to use the newly enfranchised freedmen to obtain office or profit.

Carpetbagger definition history.

Carpetbagger derogatory term originally used in the u s. Definition and origin of the political term how a derogatory term from the 1860s remains a political insult. Sixty carpetbaggers were elected to congress among them were most republican governors in the south during reconstruction. Meaning pronunciation translations and examples.

If you call someone a carpetbagger you disapprove of them because they are trying to. Following the american civil war if someone called you a carpetbagger or scalawag it wasn t meant as a compliment. 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. 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.

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. The term is now used in the united states to refer to a parachute candidate that is an outsider who runs. 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. Carpetbagger is a term from the united states political history.

Someone who tries to be elected as a politician in a place away from their home because they. Carpetbagger definition is a northerner in the south after the american civil war usually seeking private gain under the reconstruction governments. The term carpetbagger was used by opponents of reconstruction the period. The term came to be associated with opportunism and exploitation by outsiders.