carpetbaggers. The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition. 2002

Reference > The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy > 12. American History since 1865

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The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition. 2002.

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.	1
‡ Carpetbagger is still a general term for nonresident politicians who exploit their districts.	2

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition. Edited by E.D. Hirsch, Jr., Joseph F. Kett, and James Trefil. Copyright © 2002 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

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