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Line 1: + − − "Carpetbaggers" was coined from the carpet bags used as inexpensive luggage. It was originally a derogatory term, suggesting a penniless exploiter who brings no new resources and probably does not plan to stay. The term is now standard and is used without derogatory intent by historians and reference works. + +
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[[File:Carpetbagger1.jpg|right|250px|thumb|Cartoon suggesting President [[Rutherford B. Hayes]] supported removal of carpetbaggers from the Southern States during Reconstruction (''Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper'', 1877.)]]
In United States history, '''carpetbaggers''' were Northerners who moved to the South during [[Reconstruction]] to take up new business, reform or political opportunities. More generally the term refers to the political faction of the [[Republican Party]] in the South controlled by the new arrivals. They were allied politically with [[Freedmen]] (freed slaves), and [[Scalawags]] (Southern whites) in the [[Republican Party]], which in turn controlled ex-Confederate states for varying periods between 1867 and 1877; Carpetbaggers were in power on average 3 or 4 years except in South Carolina, Louisiana and Florida, where their rule was especially corrupt and lasted about 10 years. They were never in control of Virginia or Tennessee.
In United States history, '''carpetbaggers''' were Northerners who moved to the South during [[Reconstruction]] to take up new business, reform or political opportunities. More generally the term refers to the political faction of the [[Republican Party]] in the South controlled by the new arrivals. They were allied politically with [[Freedmen]] (freed slaves), and [[Scalawags]] (Southern whites) in the [[Republican Party]], which in turn controlled ex-Confederate states for varying periods between 1867 and 1877; Carpetbaggers were in power on average 3 or 4 years except in South Carolina, Louisiana and Florida, where their rule was especially corrupt and lasted about 10 years. They were never in control of Virginia or Tennessee.
Since 1900 the term has also been used to describe outsiders attempting to gain political office or economic advantage, especially in areas (thematically or geographically) to which they previously had no connection. Thus in 2000 [[Hillary Clinton]] was called a carpetbagger when she ran for the U.S. senate seat in New York, a state in which she had never lived.<ref> See [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb5244/is_/ai_n20688352 online]</ref>. Likewise in 1966 [[Robert Kennedy]] was called a carpetbagger when he ran for the New York senate seat. [[Elizabeth Dole]] had long been absent from North Carolina when she ran for the Senate in 2002 and was elected; the carpetbagger charge was revived in 2008, as she rarely visited the state as Senator, and she was defeated.
Since 1900 the term has also been used to describe outsiders attempting to gain political office or economic advantage, especially in areas (thematically or geographically) to which they previously had no connection. Thus in 2000 [[Hillary Clinton]] was called a carpetbagger when she ran for the U.S. senate seat in New York, a state in which she had never lived.<ref> See [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb5244/is_/ai_n20688352 online]</ref>. Likewise in 1966 [[Robert Kennedy]] was called a carpetbagger when he ran for the New York senate seat. [[Elizabeth Dole]] had long been absent from North Carolina when she ran for the Senate in 2002 and was elected; the carpetbagger charge was revived in 2008, as she rarely visited the state as Senator, and she was defeated.
==Background==
==Background==
"Carpetbagger" as a term was first used during the [[Reconstruction]] Period following the [[American Civil War]]. Coming down from the northern states were a large number of people who sought to help rebuild the shattered South, yet many of them took advantage of the situation to engage in exploitation and theft. About 1868 the word "carpetbagger" - suggesting an exploiter who brings no new resources and probably does not plan to stay - was coined as an epithet against these people, who were identified from the satchels in which they carried all of their possessions in; the satchels, invariably, were made from carpeting. The term is now standard and is used without derogatory intent by historians and reference works.
===Reform impulse===
===Reform impulse===