the term carpetbagger was a nickname for brainly

A carpetbagger is an individual that moved from the north to the south during the period of Reconstruction (1865-1877). These groups were aligned behind Republican goals. They wanted their own land to farm and believed they had already paid for land by their years of uncompensated labor and the trials of slavery. Some corrupt characters did descend on the South, seeking to enrich themselves at the expense of the defeated Confederates. Did you know? The context was that a planter elite kept taxes low because it benefited them. In reality, most Reconstruction-era carpetbaggers were well-educated members of the middle class; they worked as teachers, merchants, journalists or other types of businessmen, or at the Freedmans Bureau, an organization created by Congress to provide aid for newly liberated Black Americans. A carpetbagger was an individual who moved from the north to the south during the period of Reconstruction (1865-1877). About 13% to 21% of district court judges were Northerners, along with about 10% of the delegates who wrote the Reconstruction constitution of 1869. To make this move, the individual would pack their belongings in a large bag, called a carpetbag. Find History on Facebook (Opens in a new window), Find History on Twitter (Opens in a new window), Find History on YouTube (Opens in a new window), Find History on Instagram (Opens in a new window), Find History on TikTok (Opens in a new window), https://www.history.com/news/whats-the-difference-between-a-carpetbagger-and-a-scalawag. After the war, southern states were required to be readmitted back into the Union. Many also had political experience from before the war, either as members of Congress or as judges or local officials. B. social contract Carpetbaggers were able to capitalize on southerners' economic troubles and begin a new business. [31], George E. Spencer was a prominent Republican U.S. His election is notable because he was elected as a black Democrat during a campaign season notorious for white intimidation of black and Republican voters in black-majority eastern Arkansas. He was appointed South Carolina's attorney general from 1868 to 1872 and was elected Republican governor from 1874 to 1877. Southern states had no public school systems, and upper-class white Southerners either sent their children to private schools (including in England) or hired private tutors. They actively promoted public schooling and created numerous colleges and universities. This site is using cookies under cookie policy . While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Carpetbaggers were able to vote and hold political office, unlike many southerners. Election of 1860 Candidates, Summary & Significance | Who Won the Election of 1860? A "Carpetbagger" was the name given to a person from the North who would move to the South in order to make money following the Civil War. Many southerners viewed the political motivations of Scalawags as traitorous to their southern heritage. The OSS called this effort Operation Carpetbagger. "[3], In the United Kingdom at the end of the 20th century, carpetbagger developed another meaning: in British English it refers to people who join a mutual organization, such as a building society, in order to force it to demutualize, that is, to convert into a joint stock company. Term was originally a very bitter insult leveled at northerners who ventured into the defeated South. "Carpetbagger: Definition and Origin of the Political Term." He migrated to Helena, Arkansas in 1862. African Americans made up the overwhelming majority of southern Republican voters during Reconstruction. Northerners who moved to the South after the Civil War, during Reconstruction. Some bought land, and some leased it. "Carpetbagger Rule in Reconstruction Texas: an Enduring Myth.". Carpetbagging was used as a term in Great Britain in the late 1990s during the wave of demutualizations of building societies. Though they differed in their views on racemany had strong anti-Black attitudesthese men wanted to keep the hated rebels from regaining power in the postwar South; they also sought to develop the regions economy and ensure the survival of its debt-ridden small farms. carpetbagger in the United States a derogatory term for an individual from the North who relocated to the South during the Reconstruction period (1865-77) following the American Civil War. For opponents of Reconstruction, scalawags were even lower on the scale of humanity than carpetbaggers, as they were viewed as traitors to the South. As a result of the national Compromise of 1877, Chamberlain lost his office. E. J. Castello, of the Seventh Missouri infantry. But those with altruistic motivations, including teachers and employees of the Freedmen's Bureau, were also routinely denounced as carpetbaggers. Find History on Facebook (Opens in a new window), Find History on Twitter (Opens in a new window), Find History on YouTube (Opens in a new window), Find History on Instagram (Opens in a new window), Find History on TikTok (Opens in a new window), https://www.history.com/topics/american-civil-war/carpetbaggers-and-scalawags. 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. HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate. For them the South was a kind of new frontier and a land of opportunity. 2023, A&E Television Networks, LLC. He once opined that "Jesus Christ was a carpetbagger. The term was popularized by those who believed the formerly enslaved people were "unprepared for freedom, hence they relied on unscrupulous northerners, hence Reconstruction produced misgovernment and corruption.". In the congressional elections of 1866, northern voters rejected Johnsons view of Reconstruction and handed a major victory to the so-called Radical Republicans, who now took control of Reconstruction. Historians suggest that Scalawags made up only about 20% of the southern population during Reconstruction, but that this population allowed Republican policies to control the period of Reconstruction. Legislatures dominated by Republican officeholders were denounced as "carpetbagger governments.". The term scalawag was originally used as far back as the 1840s to describe a farm animal of little value; it later came to refer to a worthless person. In the modern era, the use of carpetbagger endures to denote someone who has moved into a region and run for office. After the Civil War, the South was badly in need of investment capital, and a large influx of Northerners sought economic opportunity there. These "carpetbaggers" became targets of the white supremacist organization known as Ku Klux Klan because they supported the total integration in the US society of former slaves and they resided in the Southern states where the KKK operated. Many carpetbaggers were said to have moved South for their own financial and political gains. They later became an object of much scorn, as many southerners saw them as low-class and opportunistic newcomers seeking to get rich on their misfortune. Although the exact origins of scalawag are unknown, it was in use in the United States before the Civil War as a term for both a farm animal of little value and a neer-do-well individual. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. Articles with the HISTORY.com Editors byline have been written or edited by the HISTORY.com editors, including Amanda Onion, Missy Sullivan and Matt Mullen. It is likely that the actions of most of them were motivated by a combination of the pursuit of personal advancement and a desire to participate in the process of transforming the South from a slavery-based society to a more egalitarian one. As a member, you'll also get unlimited access to over 88,000 That legislation divided the South into five military districts and outlined how new state governments based on universal (male) suffragefor both whites and Blackswere to be organized. b Scalawags were white Southerners who cooperated politically with black freedmen and Northern newcomers. - Biography, Facts & Timeline, Oneida Nation: History & Connection to Paul Revere, Who was Edmund Randolph? The majority of Republican governors in the South during Reconstruction were from the North.[2]. Industrial Workers of the World History & Goals | What is the IWW? What is a Carpetbagger? Chamberlain was said to justify white supremacy by arguing that, in evolutionary terms, the Negro obviously belonged to an inferior social order. The bureau established schools in rural areas of the South for the purpose of educating the mostly illiterate Black and Poor White population. Senator. HISTORY.com works with a wide range of writers and editors to create accurate and informative content. Corrections? Of the 142 men who served in the 12th Legislature, some 12 to 29 were from the North. The victor in the end was the "Minstrel" faction led by carpetbagger Elisha Baxter over the "Brindle Tail" faction led by Joseph Brooks, which included most of the scalawags. Southerners who supported Reconstruction and African American equality. They were prominent in the politics of the state until 1875, but nearly all left Mississippi in 1875 to 1876 under pressure from the Red Shirts and White Liners. They were given this name because most people who would arrive in the South from the North carried luggage made of carpet, thus the term "Carpetbagger." Historian Eric Foner, who has written extensively on the period of Reconstruction, offered his interpretation on the term carpetbagger in a letter to the editor of the New York Times in 1988. Many were former Whigs (conservatives) who saw the Republicans as the successors to their old party. While some carpetbaggers supported African American equality and worked to protect their voting rights, others were motivated primarily by financial gain or political power. ", This was the origin of the term "carpet bag," and out of it grew the well known term "carpet-bag government. Yet the term is still considered to be an insult, and it often features in negative campaigning. Republicans controlled the state government from 1867 to January 1874. Democrats held most of the economic power and cooperating with them could make his future. Many carpetbaggers were said to have moved South for their own financial and political gains. However, southerners quickly viewed Carpetbaggers as taking advantage of the struggling south. [1] Sixty men from the North, including educated free blacks and slaves who had escaped to the North and returned South after the war, were elected from the South as Republicans to Congress. In 1865, the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands (or the Freedman's Bureau) was created by Congress in an attempt to help reconstruction efforts of the south. [43], The term carpetbagger has also been applied to those who join the Labour Party but lack roots in the working class that the party was formed to represent. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! Planters whose properties occupied prime riverfront locations relied on river transportation, but smaller farmers in the backcountry suffered. In its earliest usage in the American South, the term was considered quite negative and was leveled as an insult. He was instrumental in organizing African-American dockworkers into the Labor Union of Colored Men, to gain them jobs at the docks after 1870. Active in the Republican Party and elected as a delegate to the state constitutional convention in 18681869, Ruby was later elected as a Texas state senator and had wide influence. Scalawags were white Southerners who cooperated politically with black freedmen and Northern newcomers. [58] You can specify conditions of storing and accessing cookies in your browser. Take on political roles in reconstructing governments, Carpetbaggers were from the North; Scalawags were from the South, Carpetbaggers were politically, socially, and economically motivated; Scalawags were politically motivated. Which statement is true about Vietnam today? This alliance pitted those who wanted the South to change against those who did not. Today, the term Carpetbagger is used to describe a political candidate that is new to a region for which they are running for political office. Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. Nation of Nations: A Concise Narrative of the American Republic. Many carpetbaggers were said to have moved South for their own financial and political gains. The word was first used in this context in early 1997 by the chief executive of the Woolwich Building Society, who announced the society's conversion with rules removing the most recent new savers' entitlement to potential windfalls and stated in a media interview, "I have no qualms about disenfranchising carpetbaggers. [29], Henry C. Warmoth was the Republican governor of Louisiana from 1868 to 1874. Senator, wrote a letter to U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant that was widely reprinted. [citation needed], In Australia, "carpetbagger" may refer to unscrupulous dealers and business managers in indigenous Australian art. ThoughtCo. [citation needed]. Most were former Union soldiers eager to invest their savings and energy in this promising new frontier, and civilians lured south by press reports of "the fabulous sums of money to be made in the South in raising cotton." In most cases, the carpetbaggers won out, and many scalawags moved into the conservative or Democratic opposition. Tariff of 1816 History & Significance | What was the Tariff of 1816? The majority (including 52 of the 60 who served in Congress during Reconstruction) were veterans of the Union Army. [29], Charles Woodward Stearns, also from Massachusetts, wrote an account of his experience in South Carolina: The Black Man of the South, and the Rebels: Or, the Characteristics of the Former and the Recent Outrages of the Latter (1873). [12][13], Initiatives such as the Southern Homestead Act, Sherman's field orders, and Reconstruction-era legislation by Radical Republicans aimed to strip the land, assets, and voting rights of Southerners believed, without evidence, to have supported the Confederates during the war. [38], George Thompson Ruby, an African American from New York City who grew up in Portland, Maine, worked as a teacher in New Orleans from 1864 until 1866 when he migrated to Texas. [32], Tunis Campbell, a black New York businessman, was hired in 1863 by Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton to help former slaves in Port Royal, South Carolina. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. Carpetbaggers packed all of their belongings into a bag and moved south. The period of Reconstruction (1865-1877) began with a focus on putting the country back together again politically, economically, and physically. double hit These individuals were often perceived as opportunistic and were sometimes accused of exploiting the South for their own gain. By 1890, they controlled 88% of the mileage; 47% of the directors were from the North. A carpetbagger was portrayed as a lower-class schemer with little education who could carry everything he owned in a cheap carpet bag. In addition to economic motives, a good number of carpetbaggers saw themselves as reformers and wanted to shape the postwar South in the image of the North, which they considered to be a more advanced society. 1872 Harper's Weekly political cartoon of Carl Schurz depicted as a carpetbagger, which reflected Southern attitudes toward Northerners during Reconstruction. He died in 1931 at age 89. But "carpetbagger" did not merely mean someone who traveled and carried a carpetbag. The term was applied to Northern politicians and financial adventurers whom Southerners accused of coming to the South to use the newly enfranchised freedmen as a means of obtaining office or profit. [41][42][full citation needed] Carpetbaggers were able to buy property and businesses cheaply because southerners needed the money to pay Civil War debts; the Confederate States of America (CSA) had borrowed a great deal of money from citizens but could not pay any of it back. The oppositive of a carpetbagger would be called a native. The term "carpetbaggers" refers to Northerners who moved to the South after the Civil War, during Reconstruction. Although the stated purpose of these initiatives was to empower freedmen politically and economically, many carpetbaggers were businessmen who purchased or leased plantations. To unlock this lesson you must be a Study.com Member. They used their money toward private ends rather than public investment. C. separation of powers "[26] Tourge later wrote A Fool's Errand, a largely autobiographical novel about an idealistic carpetbagger persecuted by the Ku Klux Klan in North Carolina. The Republican Party had been hated in the South before the Civil War, and Lincoln's election in 1860 was the trigger that started the march of pro-slavery states seceding from the Union. fault The influx of such transitory 'token' members as carpetbaggers, took advantage of these nugatory deposit criteria, often to instigate or accelerate the trend towards wholesale demutualization. The term carpetbagger was used by opponents of Reconstructionthe period from 1865 to 1877 when the Southern states that seceded were reorganized as part of the Unionto describe Northerners. The Black Codes and Why They Still Matter Today. Other Northerners who moved to the South did so to participate in the profitable business of rebuilding railroads and various other forms of infrastructure that had been previously destroyed during the war. You can specify conditions of storing and accessing cookies in your browser, It is b for people who want to save their ad :). The dispute weakened both factions and the entire Republican Party, enabling the sweeping Democratic victory in the 1874 state elections.[33]. - Biography, Facts & Quotes, Bartolome de Las Casas: Biography, Quotes & Timeline, Who Was Stephen Douglas? Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. D. Vietnam is a united communist state, Which Enlightenment idea says that An alternative explanation is that the northerners who ventured southward following the Civil War were, in many cases, bringing much-needed expertise and capital to the region. Without a speedy reformation I will have to resign my post. Scalawags were white Southerners who cooperated politically with black freedmen and Northern newcomers. The term is now used in the United States to refer to a parachute candidate, that is, an outsider who runs for public office in an area without having lived there for more than a short time, or without having other significant community ties. The suit resulted in the only successful Reconstruction prosecution under the state's civil rights law. What was the term given to Northerners who tried to help educate freedman in the South? A carpetbagger is an individual that moved from the north to the south during the period of Reconstruction (1865-1877). Create your account. The Rail Splitter Repairing the Union, Joseph E. Baker, 1865. Its like a teacher waved a magic wand and did the work for me. "A Carpetbagger's Conversion to White Supremacy.". The earliest specific reference is in a United States newspaper in 1891. Critics referred derisively to these southerners as scalawags.. Many carpetbaggers were said to have moved South for their own financial and political gains. Frequently Carpetbaggers supported legislation that promoted racial equality for newly-freed men, Carpetbaggers began a variety of different businesses in the south, from banking to newspapers. copyright 2003-2023 Study.com. Politically, the carpetbaggers were usually dominant; they comprised the majority of Republican governors and congressmen. The term broadly included both individuals who sought to promote Republican politics (including the right of African Americans to vote and hold office) and individuals who saw business and political opportunities because of the chaotic state of the local economies following the war. [25] General Milton S. Littlefield was dubbed the "Prince of Carpetbaggers", and bought votes in the legislature "to support grandiose and fraudulent railroad schemes". Northerners who came to the South and supported African American equality. The revisionist school in the 1930s called them stooges of Northern business interests. B. social contract Updates? The term "carpetbaggers" refers to Northerners who moved to the South after the Civil War, during Reconstruction. He was the last Republican to represent that state in the U.S. House of Representatives, having served from 1883 to 1885. "[24], Escott notes that extravagance and corruption increased taxes and the costs of government in a state that had always favored low expenditure. Warmoth supported the franchise for freedmen. [citation needed]. Search for an answer or ask Weegy. "Louis Post as a Carpetbagger in South Carolina: Reconstruction as a Forerunner of the Progressive Movement". Scalawags were white Southerners who cooperated politically with black freedmen and Northern newcomers. [27], A politician in South Carolina who was called a carpetbagger was Daniel Henry Chamberlain, a New Englander who had served as an officer of a predominantly black regiment of the United States Colored Troops. There they joined like-minded Southerners, most of which were employed by the Methodist and Baptist Churches, who spent much of their time teaching and preaching to slave and freedpeople congregations both before and after the Civil War. [38], The Dunning school of American historians (19001950) espoused White supremacy and viewed "carpetbaggers" unfavorably, arguing that they degraded the political and business culture. Freed African Americans had no role in politics, and the new southern legislatures even passed black codes restricting their freedom and forcing them into repressive labor situations, a development they strongly resisted. Ames tried unsuccessfully to ensure equal rights for black Mississippians. [30], The "BrooksBaxter War" was a factional dispute, 187274 that culminated in an armed confrontation in 1874 between factions of the Arkansas Republican Party over the disputed 1872 election for governor. Carpetbaggers moved to southern states for economic, political, and social opportunities; Scalawags were politically motivated. C. Vietnam is split into several small states of different political structures [52] For example, West Virginia Congressman Alex Mooney was attacked as a carpetbagger when he first ran for Congress in 2014, as he had previously been a Maryland State Senator and Chairman of the Maryland Republican Party. Carpetbagger was a pejorative denomination used by US citizens from the Southern states, former Confederates, to refer to people from the North who came to live in the South after the US Civil War. During the period of Reconstruction, many northerners moved to the south and were called Carpetbaggers. Carpetbaggers moved to the south to take advantage of the cheap land and business that were being sold by southerners. Examples of modern Carpetbaggers would be Robert Kennedy and Hillary Clinton, who both ran and won elections to the U.S. Senate for the State of New York. The term carpetbagger was used by opponents of Reconstructionthe period from 1865 to 1877 when the Southern states that seceded were reorganized as part of the Unionto describe Northerners who moved to the South after the war, supposedly in an effort to get rich or acquire political power.
La Grande Oregon Police Scanner, Simon Benson Journalist, Secret Rf Microneedling Before And After Stretch Marks, Articles T