Bluce Ree
Tech Admin / Council Member
I was watching "How the States got Their Shapes" on the History Channel and learned a few interesting tidbits.
The first settlers to Florida were the Spanish in 1513. They brought the first cattle to the state. Florida, today, is home to the largest cattle ranch in the country as. My guess would have been Texas. It was also home to the first cowboys.
The cattle ranchers in central Florida are known as "crackers" because of their mastery of cracking whips to herd cattle. Spanish Florida in the 18th century was also a haven for runaway slaves, where they were welcomed and granted freedom. Both Spanish law and the Catholic Church treated slavery as an unnatural condition and recognized blacks and American Indians as human beings and equals.
Mose, north of St. Augustine, was established as the first legally sanctioned free black town of North America.
The show used an interesting phrase, calling central Florida home to "crackers and free slaves". I wonder if this is tied to the origin of the term "cracker"?
The first settlers to Florida were the Spanish in 1513. They brought the first cattle to the state. Florida, today, is home to the largest cattle ranch in the country as. My guess would have been Texas. It was also home to the first cowboys.
The cattle ranchers in central Florida are known as "crackers" because of their mastery of cracking whips to herd cattle. Spanish Florida in the 18th century was also a haven for runaway slaves, where they were welcomed and granted freedom. Both Spanish law and the Catholic Church treated slavery as an unnatural condition and recognized blacks and American Indians as human beings and equals.
Mose, north of St. Augustine, was established as the first legally sanctioned free black town of North America.
The show used an interesting phrase, calling central Florida home to "crackers and free slaves". I wonder if this is tied to the origin of the term "cracker"?