definition of a scalywagger?

Answer 1

Noun
1. scallywag - white Southerner supporting Reconstruction policies after the Civil War usually for self-interest
scalawag
bad person - a person who does harm to others
2. scallywag - a deceitful and unreliable scoundrel
knave, rapscallion, rascal, rogue, varlet, scalawag
scoundrel, villain - a wicked or evil person; someone who does evil deliberately
3. scallywag - one who is playfully mischievous
scamp, imp, monkey, rapscallion, rascal, scalawag
child, kid, minor, nipper, tiddler, youngster, tike, tyke, shaver, small fry, nestling, fry - a young person of either sex; "she writes books for children"; "they're just kids"; "`tiddler' is a British term for youngsters"
brat, holy terror, little terror, terror - a very troublesome child

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SCALLYWAG OR SCALAWAG
A scamp, rascal, or rogue; an amusingly mischievous child.

The word — very variably spelled — appeared first in the US. It was applied to undersized or ill-formed cattle, or to some disreputable person.

Answer 2

The previous answers give you the dictionary definition of "scalawag" (sometimes "scallywag") and something about it's possible origin. (A bit more about the roots of the word may be found here - http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=scalawag&searchmode=none )

But all that may not help you much in understanding how and why this very insulting term was used throughout the American South (its main use) beginning in the 1860s.

So here's a bit of the historical situation behind that:

It's important to know that this term was often UNFAIRLY applied during the Reconstruction. Southern Democrats used this term of derision for just about ANY native Southern white who, for whatever reason, agreed with and supported the policies of the Federal government concerning Reconstruction, or the Republican governments in various Southern states during this period.

Yes, the term is INTENDED to suggest that these folks were 'traitors', siding with the North only for their own gain. And no doubt there were those who were only out for themselves --as there always are. Bit many of those who bore this label were clearly nothing like that. And, in fact, more recent studies have concluded that the leaders of these Reconstruction governments were no worse, and often better, in managing the government, money, etc., than other state governments, North and South, of that era.

Who were these folks exactly... and why did they work with the North (Republicans)? Well, in general, they were one or more of the following:

a) old Unionists -- people who had NEVER supported secession. In fact, there were significant numbers of people -- and whole areas of several states, esp. in the mountainous regions-- who had opposed secession as wrong and had even fought for the Union in the war.

b) former Whigs -- It is commonly known that the Whig Party had fallen apart in the South in 1854 (as a result of the Kansas-Nebraska Act), and the Northern Whigs became a major part of the newly formed Republican Party. But the SOUTHERN Whigs, even if they ended up in the Democratic Party at that time, did not suddenly lose all their Whig convictions! This was seen for instance, in the creation of the "Constitutional " party which ran Bell in the 1860 election. These were largely old Southern Whigs who wanted to preserve the Union and were distressed at the secessionist control of the Southern Democratic Party. (Bell ran very strongly in the border states and had a significant number of votes throughout the South.)

As former Whigs they CONTINUED to believe in many of the policies of the 1840s-50s Whigs (esp. economic ones), and now of the Republicans. Thus it was natural for them to work with Republicans after the war to try to accomplish common goals (e.g., the railroad), and even to vote or run as Republicans.

Incidentally, these former Whigs were a MAJOR piece of the so-called but much misunderstood "Compromise of 1876". They were NOT bought-off, but were very amenable to working with Republicans on common concerns (like the railroad), and so it was with their support that Congress agreed to accept the special commission's decision that Hayes had won the election. (The claim that Hayes bargained for support by agreeing to remove Federal troops is nonsense, since most of the troops had already left and Hayes had made clear before the election that he would be removing the rest.)

c) 'good Confederates' who believed the best way to heal the wounds of the nation was to work hard toward common goals (James Longstreet fit in this category)


The following links contain some remarks along the same lines:
http://www.everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=322027
http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1B1-377877.html

Answer 3

You're probably looking for the word "scallywag" or "scalawag"--and here's a good place to see the definition:
http://education.yahoo.com/reference/dictionary/entry;_ylt=AtmwDx85wXpIb.G_NaOaIHOugMMF?id=S0116700