Carpetbaggers and Scalawags
• The destruction in the South opened opportunities for
some northerners. These men quickly gathered their
belongings in a luggage bag (usually made from strips of
carpet bound together) and headed south.
• These Carpetbaggers were northerners who tried to
start businesses or buy land in the south in an effort to
profit economically from Reconstruction. As these men
were from the North they ran their businesses in the
northern style and favored industrialization and higher
taxes.
• Southerners who worked with carpetbaggers or radical
republicans during Reconstruction were often hated
and called Scalawags.
• Along with African-Americans, Carpetbaggers and
Scalawags helped elect Republican majorities in the
South during Reconstruction.
Radical Republicans in Charge
• As Republicans seized control of state
legislatures across the South, the set out to
rebuild the south in the image of the north.
Schools, railroads, and social services were
heavily subsidized in the south.
• To pay for these spending increases, taxes
were increased dramatically. Even
Southerner’s whose property was not
damaged by the war found it difficult to pay
these new taxes and frequently had to sell
their property to carpetbaggers in order to
pay these taxes.
• As railroads and factories were built
throughout the south, the rights of African
Americans were greatly expanded.
Southern Resistance to Reconstruction
• Most southern whites, particularly former slave
owners, resented the harsh reconstruction policies
of the Radical Republicans. They were also angry
that former slaves had been given so many rights
while their own rights were restricted.
• Since they could not simply vote the Republicans out
of office and put an end to Reconstruction due to the
loss of voting rights among former Confederates,
many of these men turned to violence.
• Paramilitary/terrorist organizations including the Ku
Klux Klan began to attack carpetbaggers, scalawags,
African Americans, Freedmen’s Bureau officers, and
anyone they deemed hostile to the southern way of
life. Many of these groups included former
Confederate soldiers.
Grant vs. the KKK
• One main goal of organizations like the Klan was to
overthrow the Republican state governments in the
South. Though many southern whites may not have
approved of some of the Klan’s violent actions, they
shared the goal of restoring Democrats to power in
the South. As a result the Klan enjoyed a high level
of local support in the south during Reconstruction.
• By the 1870s, the KKK and other white supremacist
groups had become such a problem in the South
that President Grant had to use the U.S. Army to
fight them.
• Though founded by former Confederate soldiers, the
Klan proved too disorganize to fight the U.S. Army
and the original KKK was destroyed so completely
that the organization would not appear in the
United States again until the 20th Century.
Resentment and Racism spreads
• Though the KKK was successfully put down, soldiers
increasingly found themselves having to physically
protect African American voters from intimidation
as Southern whites projected their hatred of
Reconstruction on African Americans.
• Out of a mix of racism and a feeling that African
Americans voting for the Republican Party would
prolong Reconstruction, African Americans and
those who supported them in the South found
themselves increasingly under attack.
• Meanwhile the number of soldiers occupying the
south began to decline as northern support for
Reconstruction efforts decreased.
• It soon became clear that the Radical Republicans
could not force their will on the South for much
longer.
Did Reconstruction need to be Radical?
In your journal respond to the following prompt:
Do you think the former Confederate states
could have been trusted to manage
Reconstruction on their own after the Civil War
or was Radical Reconstruction the only way to
ensure that the goals of Reconstruction would be
met? Explain your reasoning either way.
This assignment will be part of your 4th Nine
Weeks Journal Check.