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carpetbagger

A Yankee who moved to the American South during Reconstruction to profit from post-war instability and misfortune. The derogatory term was taken from the day's make-shift luggage made from carpet remnants often carried by the Northern interlopers.[1]

Trail West to Fury: Jessie Hayden justified his own underhanded means of taking over his neighbors' lands by claiming he was stopping carpetbaggers from doing the same.[2]