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"Cracker", sometimes "white cracker", is a pejorative term for a white person, mainly used in the Southern United States, but in recent decades it has entered common usage throughout North America. Words and phrases are pejorative if they imply disapproval or contempt White People is the second album by Handsome Boy Modeling School. The Southern United States &mdashcommonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South &mdashconstitutes a large distinctive The United States of America —commonly referred to as the
Etymology
There are various theories concerning the origin of the term "cracker".
The term "cracker" was in use during Elizabethan times to describe braggarts. Romance and reality The Victorian era and the early twentieth century idealised the Elizabethan era The original root of this is the Middle English word crack1 meaning "entertaining conversation" (One may be said to "crack" a joke); this term and the alternate spelling "craic" are still in use in Ireland and Scotland. Middle English is the name given by Historical linguistics to the diverse forms of the English language spoken between the Norman invasion of Crack or craic is " Fun, Enjoyment, abandonment or lighthearted mischief often in the context of drinking or Music " Ireland (pronounced /ˈaɾlənd/ Éire) is the third largest island in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world Scotland ( Gaelic: Alba) is a Country in northwest Europethat occupies the northern third of the island of Great Britain. It is documented in Shakespeare's King John (1595): "What cracker is this same that deafs our ears with this abundance of superfluous breath?"
By the 1760s, this term was in use by the English in the British North American colonies to refer to Scots-Irish settlers in the south. William Shakespeare ( baptised The Life and Death of King John, a history play by William Shakespeare, dramatizes the reign of King John of England (ruled 1199&ndash1216 The English people (from the adjective in Englisc) are a Nation and Ethnic group native to England who predominantly speak English British colonization of the Americas (including colonization under the Kingdom of England and Kingdom of Scotland before the 1707 Acts of Union created A letter to the Earl of Dartmouth reads: "I should explain to your Lordship what is meant by Crackers; a name they have got from being great boasters; they are a lawless set of rascalls on the frontiers of Virginia, Maryland, the Carolinas, and Georgia, who often change their places of abode". The title of Earl of Dartmouth was created in the Peerage of Great Britain in 1711 for William Legge 2nd Baron Dartmouth, who was then Secretary of State for A similar usage was that of Charles Darwin in The Origin of Species, to refer to "Virginia squatters" (illegal settlers) (p. Charles Robert Darwin (February 12 1809 &ndash April 19 1882 was an English naturalist, who realised and demonstrated that all Species of life Charles Darwin 's On the Origin of Species (published 24 November 1859) is a seminal work in Scientific literature and arguably the 35).
Spaniards in Florida called them “Quáqueros,” a corruption of the English word “Quaker,” which the Spanish used to contemptuously refer to any Protestant. [1]
Other possible origins of the term "cracker" are linked to early Florida cattle herders (Florida crackers) that traditionally used whips to herd wild Spanish cattle. Florida Cracker refers to the original colonial era American Pioneer Settlers of the State of Florida. These cowboys were distinct from the Spanish vaqueros of Florida. The crack of the herders' whips could be heard for great distances when they were used to round cattle in pens and to keep the cows on a given track. Also, "cracker" has historically been used to refer to those engaged in the low paying job of cracking pecans and other nuts in Georgia and throughout the southeast U. S.
One theory claims that the term dates back to slavery in the antebellum South. The popular folk etymology is based on slaver foremen using bullwhips to discipline African and African American slaves, and the sound the whip being described as 'cracking the whip'. Folk etymology is a term used in two distinct ways A commonly held misunderstanding of the origin of a particular word a False etymology. A bullwhip is a single-tailed whip, usually made of braided leather which was originally used as a farmer's tool for working with livestock The foremen who cracked these whips were thus known as 'crackers'. [1][2][3]
According to the 1911 edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica, "cracker" is a term of contempt for the "poor" or "mean whites," particularly of Georgia and Florida. The Encyclopædia Britannica is a general English-language encyclopaedia published by Encyclopædia Britannica Inc Britannica notes that the term dates back to the American Revolution, and is derived from the "cracked corn" which formed their staple food. In this article the inhabitants of the thirteen colonies that supported the American Revolution are primarily referred to as "Americans" with occasional references to "Patriots" [2] (Note that in British English "mean" is also a term for poverty, with no malice implied. British English or UK English ( BrE, BE, en-GB) is the broad term used to distinguish the forms of the English language used in the )
Historically the word suggested poor, white rural Americans with little formal education. Rural areas can be large and isolated (also referred to as "the country" and/or "the countryside over the course of time Historians point out the term originally referred to the strong Scots-Irish of the back country (as opposed to the English of the seacoast). Thus a sociologist reported in 1926: "As the plantations expanded these freed men (formerly bond servants) were pushed further and further back upon the more and more sterile soil. Sociology (from Latin: socius "companion" and the suffix -ology "the study of" from Greek λόγος lógos "knowledge" They became 'pinelanders', 'corn-crackers', or 'crackers'. " [Kephard Highlanders]
Examples of historical usage
Frederick Law Olmsted, a prominent landscape architect from Connecticut, visited the South as a journalist in the 1850s and wrote that some crackers "owned a good many Negroes, and were by no means so poor as their appearance indicated. Frederick Law Olmsted ( April 25, 1822 &ndash August 28, 1903) was an American landscape designer and father of American A landscape architect is a person involved in the planning design and sometimes oversight of an exterior landscape or space Connecticut ( is a state located in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. A journalist (also called a newspaperman) is a person who practices Journalism, the gathering and dissemination of information about current events trends " [4]
In 1947, the student body of Florida State University voted for the name of their current athletic symbol of "Seminoles," out of more than 100 choices. Florida State University (commonly referred to as Florida State or FSU) is a public Research University located in Tallahassee The other finalists, in order of finish, included Crackers, Statesmen, Tarpons and Fighting Warriors.
The October 27, 1863 Battle of Brown's Ferry, in the American Civil War, opened the so-called "Cracker Line". Events 312 - Constantine the Great is said to have received his famous Vision of the Cross. Year 1863 ( MDCCCLXIII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common The Battle of Wauhatchie, also known as Brown's Ferry, was fought October 28 and October 29, 1863, in Hamilton and Marion [3] [4]
Crackin' Good Snacks (a division of Winn-Dixie, a Southern grocery chain) has sold crackers similar to Ritz crackers under the name "Georgia Crackers". Winn-Dixie Stores Inc ( is an American Supermarket chain based in Jacksonville, Florida. Ritz crackers are a type of cracker designed to be eaten on their own or with a topping They sometimes came in a red tin with a picture of The Crescent, an antebellum plantation house in Valdosta, Georgia. " Antebellum " is an expression derived from Latin that means "before war" ( ante, "before" and bellum Fundamentally a plantation is usually a large Farm or estate, especially in a tropical or semitropical country on which Cotton, Tobacco Valdosta is the County seat of Lowndes County Georgia, United States.
"Cracker" has also been used as a proud or jocular self-description. With the huge influx of new residents from the North, "cracker" was used informally by some white residents of Florida and Georgia ("Florida cracker" or "Georgia cracker") to indicate that their family has lived there for many generations. Florida ( is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States, bordering Alabama to the northwest and Georgia to the The State of Georgia ( is a state in the United States and was one of the original Thirteen Colonies that revolted against British rule Florida Cracker refers to the original colonial era American Pioneer Settlers of the State of Florida. However, the term "white cracker" is not always used self-referentially and remains a racist term to many in the region. [5]
Before the Milwaukee Braves baseball team moved to Atlanta, Georgia, the Atlanta minor league baseball team was known as the "Atlanta Crackers". Baseball is a Bat-and-ball Sport played between two teams of nine players each Part of the History of baseball series Minor league baseball is a hierarchy of Professional baseball leagues in North The Atlanta Crackers (distinct from the Atlanta Black Crackers) were Minor league baseball teams based in Atlanta Georgia between 1901 and 1965 The team existed under this name from 1901 until 1965. Year 1901 ( MCMI) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year starting Year 1965 ( MCMLXV) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar of the 1965 Gregorian calendar. They were members of the Southern Association from their inception until 1961, and members of the International League from 1961 until they were moved to Richmond, Virginia in 1965. The Southern Association was a higher-level Minor league in American organized Baseball from 1902 through 1961 Year 1961 ( MCMLXI) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The International League ( IL) is a Minor league baseball league which operates in the eastern United States. This article is about the city of Richmond the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia. However, it is suggested the name was derived from players "cracking" the baseball bat and this origin makes sense when considering the Atlanta Negro League Baseball team was known as the "Atlanta Black Crackers". Part of the History of baseball in the United States series The Negro leagues were American professional Baseball leagues
The Florida Cracker Trail is a route which cuts across southern Florida, following the historic trail of the old cattle drives. The Florida Cracker Trail runs from just East of Bradenton, and ends in Fort Pierce, a total distance of approximately 120 miles Florida ( is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States, bordering Alabama to the northwest and Georgia to the
References
- ^ Smitherman, Dr. Geneva. Black Talk: Words and Phrases from the Hood to the Amen Corner. Houghton Mifflin Books, pp. 100.
- ^ Herbst, Philip H. The Color of Words: An Encyclopedic Dictionary of Ethnic Bias in the United States. Intercultural Press, pp. 61.
- ^ Major, Clarence (1994). Juba to Jive: A Dictionary of African-American Slang. Puffin Books. ISBN 014051306X.
- ^ Olmsted, Frederick Law (1856). Our Slave States. Dix & Edwards, pp. 454.
- Roger Lyle Brown. Ghost Dancing on the Cracker Circuit: The Culture Festivals in the American South (1997).
- Burke, Karanja. "Cracker".
- Cassidy, Frederic G. Dictionary of American Regional English. Harvard University Press, Vol. I, 1985: 825-26.
- "De Graffenried, Clare. "The Georgia Cracker in the Cotton Mills. " Century 41 (February 1891): 483—98.
- George Gillett Keen and Sarah Pamela Williams. Cracker Times and Pioneer Lives: The Florida Reminiscences of George Gillett Keen and Sarah Pamela Williams edited by James M Denham and Canter Brown. U of South Carolina Press 2000/
- Grady McWhiney, Cracker Culture: Celtic Ways in the Old South (Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 1988).
- Grady McWhiney. Confederate Crackers and Cavaliers. (Abilene, Tex. : McWhiney Foundation Press, c. 2002. Pp. 312. ISBN 1-893114-27-9, collected essays
- John Solomon Otto, "Cracker: The History of a Southeastern Ethnic, Economic, and Racial Epithet," Names' 35 (1987): 28-39.
- Frank L. Owsley. Plain Folk of the Old South (1949)
- Delma E. Presley, "The Crackers of Georgia," Georgia Historical Quarterly 60 (summer 1976): 102-16.
See also
External links
- Cracker – Entry in the New Georgia Encyclopedia
- Etymology of "cracker" by Professor Kim Pearson
- Florida Cracker Trail Association
Footnotes
- Note 1: The word "craic" was itself adopted into modern Irish Gaelic from the word crack. In Mexico charro is a term referring to a traditional Horseman or Cowboy of Mexico, originating in the State of Jalisco. A cowboy is an animal Herder who tends Cattle on Ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback and often performs a multitude of Hillbilly is a term referring to people who dwell in remote Rural, Mountainous areas of the United States, primarily southern Appalachia and Honky, Honkey or Honkie is a predominantly American Derogatory Racial slur for White people. The following is a list of ethnic slurs that are or have been used as insinuations or allegations about members of a given Ethnicity or to refer to them in a derogatory (critical Redneck refers to a Stereotype of usually Rural, Caucasian (i "Jimmy Crack Corn" redirects here For the song by Eminem, see Jimmy Crack Corn (Eminem song.
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