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To: Iwo Jima
I don't know why the term "cracker" seems to be primarily a Georgia term or how it actually began.

Actually, Iwo Jima, it's more of a Florida term. It evolved to describe the cowboys of the 19th Century who drove cattle to market across the scrub wilderness of Central and South Florida, "cracking" their whips as they rode. Many of these folks (including some of my own) migrated to Florida from Georgia (Wiregrass, here), and became part of the Florida culture.

As you may know, Florida provided most of the food, meat, vegetables, sugar, salt, etc. to the Confederacy during the War Between the States, and the cattle drives were very important. Many of them are still re-enacted in S. Central Florida nowadays.

848 posted on 08/30/2002 7:58:29 PM PDT by varina davis
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