Carpetbaggers in Reconstruction

Background:

“Reconstruction was a period of United States history, from 1865 to 1877, during which the nation tried to resolve the status of the ex-Confederate states, the ex-Confederate leaders, and Freedmen (ex-slaves) after the American Civil War.”

https://www.boundless.com/u-s-history/reconstruction-1865-1877/the-reconstructed-south/carpetbaggers-and-scalawags/

http://6dash9dash95.deviantart.com/art/Civil-War-Timeline-Homework-assignment-309217041

Civil War and Reconstruction:

“In 1861, the United States faced its greatest crisis to that time. The northern and southern states had become less and less alike--socially, economically, politically. The North had become increasingly industrial and commercial while the South had remained largely agricultural. More important than these differences, however, was African-American slavery. Northerners generally wanted to limit the spread of slavery; some wanted to abolish it altogether. Southerners generally wanted to maintain and even expand the institution. Thus, slavery became the focal point of a political crisis.

Following the 1860 election to the presidency of Republican Abraham Lincoln, 11 southern states eventually seceded from the Federal Union in 1861. They sought to establish an independent Confederacy of states in which slavery would be protected. Northern Unionists, on the other hand, insisted that secession was not only unconstitutional but unthinkable as well. They were willing to use military force to keep the South in the Union. Even Southerners who owned no slaves opposed threatened Federal coercion. The result was a costly and bloody civil war. Almost as many Americans were killed in the Civil War as in all the nation's other wars combined.

After four years of fighting, the Union was restored through the force of arms. The problems of reconstructing the Union were just as difficult as fighting the war had been. Because most of the war was fought in the South, the region was devastated physically and economically. Helping freedmen (ex-slaves) and creating state governments loyal to the Union also presented difficult problems that would take years to resolve.” (http://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/presentationsandactivities/presentations/timeline/civilwar/)

Reconstruction:

“When the Civil War ended, leaders turned to the question of how to reconstruct the nation. One important issue was the right to vote. Hotly debated were rights of black American men and former Confederate men to vote.

In the latter half of the 1860s, Congress passed a series of acts designed to address the question of rights, as well as how the Southern states would be governed. These acts included the act creating the Freedmen's Bureau, the Civil Rights Act of 1866, and several Reconstruction Acts. The Reconstruction Acts established military rule over Southern states until new governments could be formed. They also limited some former Confederate officials' and military officers' rights to vote and to run for public office. Meanwhile, the Reconstruction acts gave former male slaves the right to vote and hold public office.

Congress also passed two amendments to the Constitution. The Fourteenth Amendment made African-Americans citizens and protected citizens from discriminatory state laws. Southern states were required to ratify the Fourteenth Amendment before being readmitted to the union. The Fifteenth Amendment guaranteed African American men the right to vote." http://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/presentationsandactivities/presentations/timeline/civilwar/recontwo/

What is a Carpetbagger?

A carpetbagger is a Northerner who moved to the South during the Reconstruction period after the Civil War. During the Civil War, many Northerners moved to the South because it was not as expensive, and there were many opportunities to financially, professionally and politically prosper. Northerners purchase land, leased plantations and partnered with struggling planters. Initially, the carpetbaggers were welcomed and praised as helping the region. Soon after, however, the Southerners became resentful towards the carpetbaggers, claiming they were taking advantage of the Southerners misfortune by exploiting and profiting from the recent changes in the region. The Southerners often blamed the Carpetbaggers and Scalawags for Reconstruction.

Where did the term Carpetbagger derive from?

The term “carpetbagger” derives from the word “carpetbag”. During the rapid expansion of railroads in the 1840’s and 1850’s, there was a need for inexpensive travel bags. This demand led to the creation of the carpetbag, which was luggage made out of old carpets. By the 1860’s, carpetbags were carried by mostly everyone, and became a way of identifying outsiders and travelers.

This is a political cartoon showing a carpetbagger during the Reconstruction after the Civil War.
This political cartoon shows a woman struggling carrying a large carpetbag with a man and several weapons inside. This picture depicts carpetbaggers after the Civil War, during Reconstruction. http://mrmartinelle.wordpress.com

This is a political cartoon showing a carpetbagger during the Reconstruction after the Civil War.

http://reconstructionchronicles.weebly.com/nothern-influences.html

This political cartoon shows a woman struggling carrying a large carpetbag with a man and several weapons inside. This picture depicts carpetbaggers after the Civil War, during Reconstruction.

http://mrmartinelle.wordpress.com

What is a Scalawag?

A Scalawag is a white Southern Republican who politically cooperated with black freedmen and Northerners. Some Scalawags were planters who promoted African American civil and political rights, while others were former Whigs who joined the Republicans in their belief that it would replace their old party. Most, however, were non-slaveholding professionals who remained loyal to the Union during the Civil War. Although the Scalawags had differing views on race, they were united in their desire for Reconstruction through developing the regions economy and keeping the former southern leaders from regaining power. Southerners disliked the Carpetbaggers, but they hated the Scalawags even more because they were seen as traitors to the South. Scalawags believed that they could prosper more by joining the Republican South and promoting Reconstruction.

Where did the term Scalawag derive from?

The term originally dates back to the 1840’s as a name for a farm animal of little value. From there, the term was used to describe a person of little value.

Judge J.H. Yarborough Recalls the End of the Civil War

James Henry Yarborough was a Probate Judge in Chester County, South Carolina, when we was interviewed by a WPA Federal Writer's Project writer. Much of that interview dealt with his experiences as a young man in the period after the Civil War. What were Yarborough's major points about the end of the war and Reconstruction?

"I was a tousled-head boy when the Yankees reached Jenkinsville and our old home, after crossing at Freshley's Ferry on Broad River. The invading army confiscated everything, such as corn, wheat, oats, peas, fodder, hay, and all smokehouse supplies. My recollection is that they came in February, 1865. I was then a freckled-face boy nine years old, and I fought like fury to retain about a pack of corn-on-the-cob that the Yankee's horses had left in a trough unconsumed.

"I remember, too, how grief stricken I was when a Yankee soldier killed my little pet dog. He had a gun with a bayonet fixed on the muzzle. He began teasing me about the corn. The little dog ran between my legs and growled and barked at the soldiers whereupon with an oath the soldier unfeelingly ran the bayonet through the neck of the faithful little dog and killed him.

"When that cruel war was over, it would have been wiser had the whites and ex-slaves been left to their own resources and inventions, to work out their future welfare. There was no lack of affection or loyalty on the part of the Negro, nor was there a lack of love and an enlightened appreciation of self-interest upon the part of the whites. Things might have been different if suffrage had been granted gradually. But with immediate equal suffrage, or the right to vote, came the carpetbagger with his preachments of social equality and the tantalizing bag of tricks to get for every Negro 40 acres of land and a mule. The Negroes were credulous and believed all the absurdities the knaves told them. The result was an inevitable curse for the Negro and lots of trouble for the white people. It ended only when Hampton was elected in 1876. Hampton is still my hero and a man of greatest worth in the annals of South Carolina." http://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/presentationsandactivities/presentations/timeline/civilwar/recon/yarboro.html