美国内战后南方重建时期的“毛毡提包客”评析

Study of the Carpetbagger in the Reconstruction Period after American Civil War

“毛毡提包客”指美国南北战争后,参与了南方重建且在政治上倾向于共和党的北方人,是重建时期南方共和党政府的领导力量。“毛毡提包客”的构成非常复杂,受其中部分投机商人和腐败政客的影响,“毛毡提包客”长期被西方社会视为负面形象。事实上,“毛毡提包客”对内战后美国南方政治、经济、教育等的恢复发展都发挥了积极作用,推动了南方社会进步。即使是其中部分人的欺诈、贪腐行为,在重建时期的美国社会也是司空见惯,至少没有充分的证据说明其严重或危害程度明显超过当时的一般美国政客和投机商人。因为“毛毡提包客”中部分人的行为而将其整体视为负面形象,是不够客观和全面的。

The Carpetbagger might be defined as the northerners who took part in the reconstruction after the American Civil War and stood by the Republican Party.The Carpetbagger was the leader of the Republican government in the time of Reconstruction.The personnel structure of Carpetbagger was very complicated,including some speculators and corrupt politicians.Implicated by them,the Carpetbagger has a negative imagine in the Western society to this day.But in fact,the Carpetbagger had played a positive role in the development of politics,economy,and education of the South of United States after the Civil War,and they had promoted the social progress of the South.Though some Carpetbagger had fraudulent activity and malversation,it was very common in the United States at the time of Reconstruction.At least,there is not enough evidence to prove that the fraudulent activity and malversation of Carpetbagger was more serious or harmful than that of the other American speculators and politicians at that time.So,it might be one-sided and subjective to look the whole of Carpetbagger as a negative imagine.