Carpetbagger is a term from the United States political history. A carpetbagger was a northerner who moved to the South after the American Civil War . This period is called the "reconstruction era".

White southerners feared they would loot the defeated South. ^[1] Sixty carpetbaggers were elected to Congress . Among them were most Republican governors in the South during reconstruction. A historian said:

Carpetbaggers generally supported measures aimed at democratizing and modernizing the South ? civil rights legislation, aid to economic development, the establishment of public school systems. ^[2]

"Carpetbagger" referred to the cheap carpet bags (a form of luggage ) which many of the newcomers carried. The term came to be associated with opportunism and exploitation by outsiders. It is used today for a " parachute candidate ": a political candidate for public office in an area far from home.

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