What is political carpetbagging, and what the heck does that mean? That’s the subject of today’s Civics 101 column. To tell you the truth, I never heard of this particular terminology before. I learned about “carpetbaggers” many years ago in 6th and 7th grade. However, the terminology, “political carpetbagging” is a new one for me, so SCOOP Readers, we’ll learn about this one together.
Let’s start with a review of what a carpetbagger was. 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. They were perceived to be exploiting the local populace for their own financial, political, and/or social gain. 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. In practice, the term carpetbagger was often applied to any Northerners who were present in the South during the Reconstruction Era (1865–1877). The term is closely associated with “scalawag,” a similarly pejorative word used to describe native white Southerners who supported the Republican Party-led Reconstruction.
**********
Thank you for reading Thera Martin’s article on scoopnewsusa.com. For more on “What is Political Carpetbagging?”, please subscribe to SCOOP USA Media. Print subscriptions are $75 and online subscriptions (Print, Digital, and VIZION) are $90. (52 weeks / 1 year).
