USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -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 control over his new surroundings, often against the will or consent of the original inhabitants.

Detailed explanation-2: -In the history of the United States, carpetbagger is a largely historical term used by Southerners to describe opportunistic Northerners who came to the Southern states after the American Civil War, who were perceived to be exploiting the local populace for their own financial, political, and/or social gain.

Detailed explanation-3: -The term carpetbagger was used by opponents of Reconstruction-the period from 1865 to 1877 when the Southern states that seceded were reorganized as part of the Union-to describe Northerners who moved to the South after the war, supposedly in an effort to get rich or acquire political power.

Detailed explanation-4: -Carpetbagger” and “scalawag” are derisive epithets which southern Democrats, or Conservatives, applied to white Republicans, or radicals, during Congressional or Radical Reconstruction. Carpetbagger referred to Republicans who had recently migrated from the North; scalawag referred to southern-born radicals.