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In United States history, '''carpetbaggers''' were Northerners who moved to the South during [[Reconstruction]] to take up new business, reform or political opportunities. They were allied politically with [[Freedmen]] (freed slaves), and [[Scalawags]] (Southern whites) in the [[U.S. Republican Party, history|Republican Party]], which in turn controlled ex-Confederate states for varying periods between 1867 and 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 [[U.S. Republican Party, history|Republican Party]], which in turn controlled ex-Confederate states for varying periods between 1867 and 1877.  

"Carpetbaggers" was coined from the carpet bags used as inexpensive luggage. It was originally a derogatory term, suggesting an 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.   

"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.   

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.