My curiosity was aroused in a recent conversation involving the word “carpetbaggers”; I’d often used the word, but never really understood its meaning. Wikipedia came to the rescue.
An antique carpet bag
The term originates from the days following the American civil war, when Northerners or Yankees flooded to the South in search of work opportunities. Many of these migrant workers carried their affairs in carpet bags, that is to say bags made from sturdy oriental rugs. These outsiders together with the Republican party of the day were said to have meddled in local politics to suit their own causes. It was intended as a derogatory term and today suggests opportunism and exploitation by outsiders.
In today’s political landscape it has also come to refer to politicians that run for public office in a district with which they have no community ties, commuting from London from time-to-time to attend certain meetings, lending the impression they are locally active.
Read the fascinating history behind carpetbaggers here.
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