The Carpetbaggers (1964)

I was just 14 when this film came out .It was based on a book by Harold Robbins, published in 1961. The timing was about a hundred years after the American Civil War. The term ‘carpetbagger’ derived from a type of Northern opportunist who flooded the South after the Civil War ended. The term is pejorative, although I didn’t know it at the time. It seems to me that the South still feels these resentments strongly.

Another surprising thing I learned is that Democrats were considered the ‘bad guys’ after the Civil War. I don’t think that has changed much after 160 years. The whole ‘replacement theory’ stems from having Northerners, freed slaves and other immigrants take over the jobs (and lives) of the white plantation owners and their families. That fear of being pushed out is still strong.

Hmm.