carpetbaggers

Cultural  

1. Northerners who went to the South after the Civil War to take part in Reconstruction governments, when persons who had supported the Confederacy were not allowed to hold public office (see Fourteenth Amendment). Some of them arrived, according to legend, carrying only one carpetbag, which symbolized their lack of permanent interest in the place they pretended to serve.

---

Discover More

Carpetbagger is still a general term for nonresident politicians who exploit their districts.

Example Sentences

Do voters really still punish carpetbaggers and reward candidates with deep ties to their districts?

From Salon • Aug. 19, 2022

“We don’t want carpetbaggers coming in here with lots of money,” Mr. Niceley told a local television station last month.

From New York Times • Apr. 20, 2022

A Texas Ranger sides with a woman’s righteous opposition to carpetbaggers.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 31, 2020

I grew up with family from elsewhere in the South not-so-jokingly turning their nose up at so-called carpetbaggers, and so I’ve tried very hard to be involved in my community.

From Slate • Dec. 16, 2019

“When the carpetbaggers commenced takin’ over, them Stokeses built a rock wall around the fam’ly graveyard and took off for Brazil, lock, stock, and barrel.

From "Cold Sassy Tree" by Olive Ann Burns