“one who cracks a wipe”
A crack-wiper?
One theory holds that the word derives from “corncracker”, a traditional slang name for poor white people from certain southern states. The 1911 edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica, notes that “cracker” is a term of contempt for the “poor” or “mean whites,” particularly of Georgia and Florida. Britannica notes that this usage of the term dates back to the American Revolution, and is derived from the “cracked corn” which formed their staple food.
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. 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 Afro-American slaves, and the sound the whip being described as ‘cracking the whip’. The foremen who cracked these whips were thus known as ‘crackers’.
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. Britannica notes that the term dates back to the American Revolution, and is derived from the “cracked corn” which formed their staple food.