Scalawags x Carpetbaggers

Most white Southerners disagreed with how the federal government and the Republican Party handled Reconstruction. They wanted things to go back to how they were before the Civil War, when the South depended on slave labor. However, some white Southerners, called scalawags, supported the Republican Reconstruction plan. Scalawags included farmers, business owners, and poor whites who believed that following Reconstruction laws was the fastest way to rebuild the South and regain control. Many Southerners saw scalawags as traitors for siding with the North’s Radical Republicans. Despite this, scalawags made up about 20% of white voters and held many government positions in the South. Some also supported Republican governments to gain financial benefits. 

After the Civil War, Reconstruction, led by the Republican Party, forced many ex-Confederate politicians in the South to step down from power. This left open spots in government, and many northerners saw an opportunity. These northerners, mostly from the middle or upper class, moved to the South during Reconstruction, hoping to gain political power. They were called carpetbaggers because they carried carpetbags, a cheap type of luggage. Many white Southerners, who wanted things to go back to how they were before the war, disliked the carpetbaggers and their support for the Republican Party. They saw them as outsiders taking advantage of the system by becoming mayors, council members, and even congressmen. This created even more tension in the already divided South during Reconstruction.