Carpetbagger in the united states a derogatory term for an individual from the north who relocated to the south during the reconstruction period 1865 77 following the american civil war.
What is a carpetbagger slang.
A carpet bag by the way isn t a bag for carrying carpet but a soft sided suitcase or satchel made out of carpet.
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.
Countable noun if you call someone a carpetbagger you disapprove of them because they are trying to become a politician in an area which is not their home simply because they think they are more likely to succeed there.
The term came to be associated with opportunism and exploitation by outsiders.
They were called carpetbaggers to imply that they were such poor transient characters that they merely moved south carrying all their possessions in a carpet bag.