Where did the term "Cracker" originate?

Answer 1

If you're referring to low-class white people, it's believed that the term originated with the "crack" of the whip used to intimidate/beat black slaves.

In Florida, multi-generational Floridians (in other words, those whose family have been in Florida for many generations--pre-air conditioning) pride themselves on being "crackers." Across the border in Georgia, however, being called a "cracker" is as offensive as any other racial slur and is an instant invitation to a fight.

Answer 2

There are various theories about the origin of the term "cracker."

The term cracker was in use during Elizabethan times to describe braggarts. 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. It is documented in Shakespeare's King John (1595): "What cracker is this . . . that deafes 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. 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." A similar usage was that of Charles Darwin in The Origin of Species, to refer to "Virginia squatters" (illegal settlers) (p. 35).

Historically the word suggested poor, white rural Americans with little formal education. Historians point out the term originally referred to the strong Scots-Irish of the backcountry (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. They became 'pinelanders,' 'corn-crackers,' or 'crackers.'" [Kephard Highlanders] Frederick Law Olmsted, a prominent landscape architect from Connecticut, visited the South as a journalist in the 1850s and noted that some crackers "owned a good many negroes, and were by no means so poor as their appearance indicated." [McWhiney xvi]

Other possible origins of the term "cracker" are linked to early Florida cattle herders that traditionally used whips to herd wild Spanish cattle. The crack of the herders' whips could be heard for great distances and 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.

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. (Please note that in British English "mean" is a term for poverty, not malice.) [2]

Answer 3

Many Sailors would go to Medford to buy Medford crackers, the one main reason was that they were able to be kept from getting stale much more than freshly baked breads and other foods. They were also very nutritious for the sailors to eat. They had wheat and flour in them so they gave them energy. They also had carbohydrates which also gave them energy. Crackers became very popular among the sailors and so did its creator Convers Francis.
The cracker was also called ship's biscuit or hardtack. It was circles of dough, kneaded, rolled by hand, and tossed into a hot oven. A description by Moses Mann explains how the cracker was made: "A small piece of dough was rolled under each palm, thus making two at a time. These were flattened by a rolling pin and docked, that is pricked by hand. This latter was done by children. It caused the mass to split in the middle, otherwise it would rise like a biscuit. The steam generated in the baking dough passed out through the holes, and left the mass adhering at the edge and easily separated or cracked."
Historians, like Carl Seaberg, Alan Seaberg, and Frank W. Lovering who were the writers of Medford Yesterdays, and Medford on the Mystic don't have much to say about the Medford Crackers or its creator Convers Francis. The writers Carl, Alan, and Frank, wrote in their books that someone reported seeing signs that said "Medford Crackers Sold Here," all the way in London, which means that Medford crackers were pretty popular all around the world. The three authors also say in their books that Medford Crackers were just as popular as Medford's Ships and Medford's Rum. Medford Crackers and its creator Convers Francis made crackers famous all around the world today and then. Just think if Convers Francis didn't invent crackers we wouldn't have them today.

Or there is the graham cracker:

Sylvester Graham, best known today for his invention of Graham crackers, was from a line of clergymen-physicians and was born in West Suffield in 1794, the 17th child of the 72-year old Reverend John Graham, Jr. Graham decided to prepare for the ministry also, and studied languages at Amherst College briefly in 1823. Following a long illness, he began preaching for the Presbyterian Church in New Jersey, and in 1830 was made general agent for the Pennsylvania Temperance Society.

Probably because of concern for his own health, he became interested in human physiology and nutrition, giving lectures in the eastern states, and developing what came to be known as the Graham System, a vegetarian dietetic theory. He advocated use of whole wheat for bread, hard mattresses, open windows, fresh fruits and vegetables, pure drinking water, and cheerfulness at meals . . . apparently revolutionary ideas at the time. A number of his lectures were published, including: “The Young Man’s Guide to Chastity” and “Discourses on a Sober and Temperate Life.” Although he became the subject of jokes and editorials — Emerson called him the “poet of bran and pumpkins” and his “Treatise on Bread and Bread Making” of 1837 resulted in an attack by a mob of Boston bakers — Graham flour was successfully being milled, Graham boarding houses were established, and his lectures were being published. Graham’s most ambitious work, Lectures on the Science of Human Life, published in 1839, became a leading text on health reform, but his popularity waned after 1840 and he died in 1851 before completing The Philosophy of Sacred History, a collection of his lectures relating his theories of living habits to the scriptures.

Answer 4

Well I can theorize that perhaps in the original "cracker" days they were made of cracked wheat? How's that for a wild guess.

Answer 5

I've heard it used to describe people who smoke crack. I doubt that's where it originated.

Answer 6

Florida, because of the whips they used with cattle.