What was the role of the carpetbaggers in reconstruction?

"Carpetbagger" was used by Southerners as a derogatory term, referring to the carpet bags (a form of cheap luggage made from carpet fabric) which many of these newcomers carried. Such a person came from the North to the South after the war, seeking to unfairly profit in the damaged financial conditions of the South after the war. The term came to be associated with opportunism and exploitation by outsiders.