carpetbagger

[ kahr-pit-bag-er ]
/ ˈkɑr pɪtˌbæg ər /

noun

U.S. History. a Northerner who went to the South after the Civil War and became active in Republican politics, especially so as to profiteer from the unsettled social and political conditions of the area during Reconstruction.
a politician who takes up residence in a place and runs for office without having strong ties to the area.
any opportunistic or exploitive outsider: Our bus company has served this town for years, but now the new one run by carpetbaggers from the city is stealing our business.

Origin of carpetbagger

1865–70, Americanism; carpetbag + -er1; so called because they came South carrying their belongings in carpetbags

OTHER WORDS FROM carpetbagger

car·pet·bag·ger·y, noun

Example sentences from the Web for carpetbaggers

British Dictionary definitions for carpetbaggers

carpetbagger
/ (ˈkɑːpɪtˌbæɡə) /

noun

a politician who seeks public office in a locality where he has no real connections
British a person who makes a short-term investment in a mutual savings or life-assurance organization in order to benefit from free shares issued following the organization's conversion to a public limited company
US a Northern White who went to the South after the Civil War to profit from Reconstruction

Cultural definitions for carpetbaggers

carpetbaggers

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.

notes for carpetbaggers

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