Carpet Bagger Define

Carpetbagger synonyms carpetbagger pronunciation carpetbagger translation english dictionary definition of carpetbagger.

Carpet bagger define.

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. In the post us civil war south carpetbaggers were northerners who moved to the south to take advantage of the unstable social financial and political climate. A carpet bag by the way isn t a bag for carrying carpet but a. 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.

An outsider especially a politician who. They were called carpetbaggers to imply that they were such poor transient characters that they merely moved south carrying all their possessions in a carpet bag. Carpetbagger definition is a northerner in the south after the american civil war usually seeking private gain under the reconstruction governments. The term came to be associated with opportunism and exploitation by outsiders.