Concept

Carpetbagger

A term of abuse for northerners accused of moving south during Reconstruction to profit from political power at former Confederates' expense.

A term used for northerners working in the South during Reconstruction; it implied that these were opportunists who came south for economic or political gain. In reality these northerners tended to be young, idealistic, often well-educated men responding to campaigns urging them to help modernize the South, but the swindler image resonated with a white southern population aggrieved by loss and economic decline.