[18], The "Black and Tan" (biracial) constitutional convention in Mississippi in 1868 included 30 white Southerners, 17 Southern freedmen and 24 non-southerners, nearly all of whom were veterans of the Union Army. Clinton, who had been born in Illinois, had never lived in New York, and was accused of moving to New York just so she could run for Senate. His political battles with the Southerners and African Americans ripped apart his party. 2023, A&E Television Networks, LLC. He was instrumental in organizing African-American dockworkers into the Labor Union of Colored Men, to gain them jobs at the docks after 1870. Yet it was often resented. Following the American Civil War, if someone called you a carpetbagger or scalawag, it wasnt meant as a compliment. One year of residence in a state in the Reconstruction South brought the right to vote and hold office, and many transplanted Northerners then ran for and held political office, especially representing largely black constituencies. B. social contract While some carpetbaggers supported African American equality and worked to protect their voting rights, others were motivated primarily by financial gain or political power. answered expert verified The term carpetbagger was a nickname for Southerners who worked to repeal African American voting rights laws. However, southerners quickly viewed Carpetbaggers as taking advantage of the struggling south. They were among the founders of the Republican party in Mississippi. Carpetbaggers viewed themselves as saviors of the struggling south; moving to the war-torn region to aid in its rebuilding. In the two years following the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln and the end of the Civil War in April 1865, Lincolns successor Andrew Johnson angered many northerners and Republican members of Congress with his conciliatory policies towards the defeated South. As its most basic level, the name derived from luggage common at the time, which resembled bags made of carpeting. The term broadly included both individuals who sought to promote Republican politics (including the right of African Americans to vote and hold office) and individuals who saw business and political opportunities because of the chaotic state of the local economies following the war. Historians suggest that Scalawags made up only about 20% of the southern population during Reconstruction, but that this population allowed Republican policies to control the period of Reconstruction. He died in 1931 at age 89. A "Carpetbagger" was the name given to a person from the North who would move to the South in order to make money following the Civil War. Harris, William C. "James Lynch: Black Leader in Southern Reconstruction", Klein, Maury. Its like a teacher waved a magic wand and did the work for me. All articles are regularly reviewed and updated by the HISTORY.com team. The term carpetbagger was used by opponents of Reconstructionthe period from 1865 to 1877 when the Southern states that seceded were reorganized as part of the Unionto describe Northerners who moved to the South after the war, supposedly in an effort to get rich or acquire political power. Later, however, as Reconstruction governments began to alter the reality of Southern political life, the newcomers were characterized by white Southerners as the dregs of Northern society preying upon the misfortune of the defeated South. b [38], The Dunning school of American historians (19001950) espoused White supremacy and viewed "carpetbaggers" unfavorably, arguing that they degraded the political and business culture. Furbush and three other black leaders, including the bill's primary sponsor, state senator Richard A. Dawson, sued a Little Rock barkeeper for refusing to serve their group. Beginning in 1867, they formed a coalition with carpetbaggers (one-sixth of the electorate) and scalawags (one-fifth) to gain control of southern state legislatures for the Republican Party. To White southern Democrats, scalawags were perhaps even worse than carpetbaggers, as they were viewed as betraying their own people. They pushed Republicans from political positions, were responsible for the Coushatta Massacre, disrupted Republican organizing, and preceded elections with such intimidation and violence that black voting was sharply reduced. In the modern era, the use of carpetbagger endures to denote someone who has moved into a region and run for office. lessons in math, English, science, history, and more. Carpetbagger | History, Significance, & Facts | Britannica Initially, these Northern migrants were well received. I feel like its a lifeline. [citation needed], In Australia, "carpetbagger" may refer to unscrupulous dealers and business managers in indigenous Australian art. The Republican Party had been hated in the South before the Civil War, and Lincoln's election in 1860 was the trigger that started the march of pro-slavery states seceding from the Union. Scalawags were white Southerners who cooperated politically with black freedmen and Northern newcomers. [citation needed], Francis Lewis Cardozo, a black minister from New Haven, Connecticut, served as a delegate to South Carolina's 1868 Constitutional Convention. What is Sharecropping? White southern Republicans, known to their enemies as scalawags, made up the biggest group of delegates to the Radical Reconstruction-era legislatures. Between 1997 and 2002, a group of pro-demutualization supporters "Members for Conversion" operated a website, carpetbagger.com, which highlighted the best ways of opening share accounts with UK building societies, and organized demutualization resolutions. McNamara, Robert. "[24], Albion W. Tourge, formerly of Ohio and a friend of President James A. Garfield, moved to North Carolina, where he practiced as a lawyer and was appointed a judge. A scalawag was a white southerner who supported the Republican Party during the period of Reconstruction. Warmoth stayed in Louisiana after Reconstruction, as white Democrats regained political control of the state. In general, the term "carpetbagger" refers to a traveler who arrives in a new region with only a satchel (or carpetbag) of possessions, and who attempts to profit from or gain control over. Scalawags Scalawags. The period of Reconstruction (1865-1877) began with a focus on putting the country back together again politically, economically, and physically. [29], Henry C. Warmoth was the Republican governor of Louisiana from 1868 to 1874. "[24] The historians Eric Foner and W. E. B. Others invested in businesses or banks. Carpetbaggers were able to capitalize on southerners' economic troubles and begin a new business. Accustomed to viewing Southernersblack and whiteas devoid of economic initiative, the "Puritan work ethic", and self-discipline, they believed that only "Northern capital and energy" could bring "the blessings of a free labor system to the region. The modern usage of the term is far removed from the deep bitterness and racial aspect of the Reconstruction era. A classic example of someone called a carpetbagger was Robert Kennedy when he announced his run for the U.S. Senate in New York State. [17], Union General Adelbert Ames, a native of Maine, was appointed military governor and later was elected as Republican governor of Mississippi during the Reconstruction era. Northerners who came to the South and supported African American equality. In French politics, carpetbagging is known as parachutage, which means "parachuting" in French. All Rights Reserved. While the federal government worked on the readmission process, Carpetbaggers took political advantage of this time period. To that end, they became natural allies of the freedmen. At first they were welcomed, as southerners saw the need for northern capital and investment to get the devastated region back on its feet. [30], The "BrooksBaxter War" was a factional dispute, 187274 that culminated in an armed confrontation in 1874 between factions of the Arkansas Republican Party over the disputed 1872 election for governor. After the Civil War, the South was badly in need of investment capital, and a large influx of Northerners sought economic opportunity there. Carpetbaggers & Scalawags - History Foner wrote that the term, as an insult, was used mainly by "white supremacist opponents of Reconstruction" policies. . But in the South after the Civil War, Republicans often won political office, especially where the formerly enslaved people were allowed to vote. Davidson, Gienapp, Heyrman, Lytle, Stoff. He made eloquent speeches advocating that the plantations be broken up and distributed among the freedmen. What Term Was Given To Southerners Who Supported Reconstruction Candeloro, Dominic. You can specify conditions of storing and accessing cookies in your browser. The post-war years in the south provided many Americans with an opportunity to benefit from the financial reconstruction of the south. Updated: August 21, 2018 | Original: June 24, 2010, During and immediately after the Civil War, many northerners headed to the southern states, driven by hopes of economic gain, a desire to work on behalf of the newly emancipated enslaved people or a combination of both. The majority (including 52 of the 60 who served in Congress during Reconstruction) were veterans of the Union Army. Whats the difference between a carpetbagger and a scalawag. [9] Schoolteachers and religious missionaries went to the South to teach the freedmen; some were sponsored by northern churches. Sometimes carpetbaggers even took political office in southern states, because many former Confederates were prohibited from holding political office. According to Oliver Temple Perry in his 1912 book, "Notable men of Tennessee, from 1833 to 1875, Their Times and Their Contemporaries", Tennessee Secretary of State and Radical Republican Andrew J. Fletcher "was one of the first, if not the very first, in the State to denounce the hordes of greedy office-seekers who came from the North in the rear of the army in the closing days of the [U.S. Civil] War" within his June 1867 stump speech that he delivered across Tennessee for the re-election of the disabled Tennessee Governor William G. Brownlow: "No one more gladly welcomes the Northern man who comes in all sincerity to make a home here, and to become one of our people, than I, but for the adventurer and the office-seeker who comes among us with one dirty shirt and a pair of dirty socks, in an old rusty carpet bag, and before his washing is done becomes a candidate for office, I have no welcome. We strive for accuracy and fairness. [25] North Carolina Democrats condemned the legislature's "depraved villains, who take bribes every day"; one local Republican officeholder complained, "I deeply regret the course of some of our friends in the Legislature as well as out of it in regard to financial matters, it is very embarrassing indeed. The OSS called this effort Operation Carpetbagger. Carpetbaggers were northerners who headed south after the war; Scalawags were southerners. The term carpetbagger was a nickname for not a What is one service the Freedmen's Bureau provided for African Americans? Such individuals are seeking personal financial gain through such actions. There he was assigned to Galveston as an agent and teacher for the Freedmen's Bureau. He returned to Ohio after 18 months and moved back to Arkansas by 1870. In general, the southern state governments formed during this period of Reconstruction represented a coalition of African Americans, recently arrived northern whites (carpetbaggers) and southern white Republicans (scalawags). There they joined like-minded Southerners, most of which were employed by the Methodist and Baptist Churches, who spent much of their time teaching and preaching to slave and freedpeople congregations both before and after the Civil War. After the war, hundreds of Northern white women moved South, many to teach the newly freed African-American children. The modified B-24 aircraft used for the night-time missions were referred to as "carpetbaggers". [46][47][48][49], The term was also used by John Fahey, a former Premier of New South Wales and federal Liberal finance minister, in the context of shoddy "tradespeople" who travelled to Queensland to take advantage of victims following the 20102011 Queensland floods.