Answer:
They profited off of the damaged economy in the post-war South.
Explanation:
Carpetbaggers was a derogatory term that southerners used to denominate northerners who travelled south during the Reconstruction Era.
Carpetbaggers mainly do so because of economic motives. They wanted to profit from the damaged economy of the post-war South.
Many of them became landowners, benefiting from radical republican laws that stripped land of former slave holders. Many of them also became merchants, tradesmen, and bankers.