Na m e : ___ Date: _
Directions: Look for the main idea and supporting details as you read the information
below. Write the main idea and phrases to describe the supporting facts on the
spaces provided.At the end of the Civil War, the defeated South was a ruined land. The physical destruction
caused by Union troops was enormous, and the old social and economic order founded on
slavery had collapsed completely, with nothing to replace it. Carpetbaggers saw this as an
opportunity to prosper. The word carpetbagger was used in the South after the Civil War to
describe Northerners who went to the South during reconstruction to seek their fortune.
Although regarded as temporary residents of the South because of the carpetbags in which
they carried their possessions (hence the name carpetbaggers), most of these opportunists
intended to settle in the South and take advantage of business opportunities there. Former
slaves were more trusting of Northerners than former slave
owners and tended to vote for the outsiders. With the
support of the black vote, the carpetbaggers played an
important role in the Republican state governments. The
corrupt activities of some carpetbaggers made the term
carpetbagger one and the same with any stranger who
interferes in a town’s political affairs for personal benefit.
Main Idea: ____
Supporting Details: ____