Florida Crackers and Yankee Tourists

Chapter 9 looks at those Floridians who rejected this manufactured version of a tropical paradise. Resentful of the changing political and economic priorities, these people (including ranchers, farmers, turpentiners, and North Florida politicians) saw “foreign” control over their livelihoods and culture. First we look at the development of the Florida Cracker as an idea and cultural construct. Long used as a derogatory label, writers such as Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings converted that image into one of resistance, illustrative of an alternative and “authentic” Florida. Finally, the chapter will conclude with two case studies, tick eradication and the anti-fire campaign, in which we see direct clashes between rural and agrarian peoples with those favoring the creation of a new Florida image.