What did scalawag mean in the South?
In United States history, the term scalawag (sometimes spelled scallawag or scallywag) referred to white Southerners who supported Reconstruction policies and efforts after the conclusion of the American Civil War. As with the term carpetbagger, the word has a long history of use as a slur in Southern partisan debates.
What is meant by scalawag?
1 : scamp, reprobate. 2 : a white Southerner acting in support of the reconstruction governments after the American Civil War often for private gain.
Who were the scalawags and what did they do?
Scalawags were white Southerners who cooperated politically with black freedmen and Northern newcomers. Many of them wanted to keep the Republican party in political power in the South and vied for the development of the region’s economy, which had taken a major hit during the Civil War.
Where did Term scalawag come from?
The term scalawag was originally used as far back as the 1840s to describe a farm animal of little value; it later came to refer to a worthless person. For opponents of Reconstruction, scalawags were even lower on the scale of humanity than carpetbaggers, as they were viewed as traitors to the South.
What is an example of scalawag?
A white Southerner working for or supporting the federal government during Reconstruction. A Southern white who supported the Republicans during the Reconstruction.
What’s another word for Scallywag?
In this page you can discover 9 synonyms, antonyms, idiomatic expressions, and related words for scallywag, like: rascal, scalawag, rapscallion, scamp, knave, rogue, varlet, imp and monkey.
What’s the origin of Scallywag?
The first citation of “scalawag” given by the Oxford English Dictionary is from J.R. Bartlett’s 1848 Dictionary of Americanisms, which defines it as “a favorite epithet in western New York for a mean fellow; a scape-grace.” From there, the word rose—it achieved prominence after the Civil War as a name for a white …