Florida Crackers

by Cracker Country

Florida Crackers get their name from the rugged 19th century cowmen who "hunted" cattle. They used long bullskin whips to herd their cattle.

Admin Note: To learn more about Florida Crackers, there are some great books on Amazon...

Cracker; Florida's Enduring Cowboys

Cracker Times and Pioneer Lives: The Florida Reminiscences of George Gillett Keen and Sarah Pamela Williams

Cracker: Cracker Culture in Florida History

Crackers In The Scrub: Adventures And Stories About Florida?s Cracker Cowboys

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Florida Crackers

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Florida Quaceros and Some Craich
by: Tony

The crack of the bull whip is only one of the possible ways Florida natives are called Crackers. I've heard two others - Florida was under Spanish rule, the Puritans were less than welcoming to "the wrong sort" - William Penn had been imprisoned in England for being a Quaker - and so a number of English colonists left the colonies and headed south. Spaniards called all English settlers, in their territory "Quakers" or "Quaceros" which got corrupted to "Crackers".

The other possibility I'd heard is that Irish immigrants were known for their rowdiness and drinking. Having a good time in Gaelic is called "craich" but pronounced "crack", so cattlemen who had finished their work, got drunk and got rowdy were enjoying some good "crack" and were called Crackers.

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Great Fun Fact!
by: Julie

Thank you for this interesting tidbit in Florida and America's history! I look forward to researching Florida Crackers and finding out more about them.

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