Definition of "carpetbagger" (politics, history, chiefly US, offensive) A migrant from the Northern to the Southern States after the American Civil War of 1861–5, especially one who went South to gain political influence . quotations
Quotations The carpetbagger remains one of the most enduring symbols of the Reconstruction era . Technically , a carpetbagger was simply a northerner who went South in the wake of the Civil War and took part in Republican Party politics . For most of its lifespan , however , the term has been an epithet , denoting a lowly , immoral northern opportunist , a demagogue who preyed on the defeated South , perverted sectional peace , and rose to power by deceiving African American voters .
2012, William A. Blair, Journal of the Civil War Era: Winter 2012 Issue, UNC Press Books, page 539