Advertisement

Advertisement

carpetbaggers

  1. 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.


Discover More

Notes

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

Discover More

Example Sentences

And you had the carpetbaggers and all that, but as occupations go, it wasn't so brutal.

Carpetbaggers already in situ to cash in on the wasted and exhausted city.

These days, country music is filled with country carpetbaggers.

One was the radical carpetbaggers, and the other conservative.

Joe, soon after this, decided to stay in the carpetbaggers' city and take the agency of a large insurance company.

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

New appointments were nearly always carpetbaggers and native radicals who could take the "ironclad" oath.

Resentment at the methods employed by the Northern religious carpetbaggers was strong among the Southern whites.

Advertisement

Word of the Day

tortuous

[tawr-choo-uhs ]

Meaning and examples

Start each day with the Word of the Day in your inbox!

By clicking "Sign Up", you are accepting Dictionary.com Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policies.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement


carpetbaggercarpet beetle