carpetbaggers


Northerners who went to the South after the Civil War to take part in Reconstruction governments, when persons who had supported the Confederacy were not allowed to hold public office (see Fourteenth Amendment). Some of them arrived, according to legend, carrying only one carpetbag, which symbolized their lack of permanent interest in the place they pretended to serve.

Notes for carpetbaggers

Carpetbagger is still a general term for nonresident politicians who exploit their districts.

Words Nearby carpetbaggers

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

How to use carpetbaggers in a sentence

  • The other Federal departments were in similar difficulties, and at last women and "carpetbaggers" were appointed.

    The Sequel of Appomattox | Walter Lynwood Fleming
  • New appointments were nearly always carpetbaggers and native radicals who could take the "ironclad" oath.

    The Sequel of Appomattox | Walter Lynwood Fleming
  • Resentment at the methods employed by the Northern religious carpetbaggers was strong among the Southern whites.

    The Sequel of Appomattox | Walter Lynwood Fleming