Cracker Culture: Celtic Ways in the Old South

by Dr. Grady McWhiney (Author), Forrest McDonald (Contributor)

43 customer reviews

ISBN-13: 978-0817304584

ISBN-10: 0817304584

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Cracker Culture is a provocative study of social life in the Old South that probes the origin of cultural differences between the South and the North throughout American history. Among Scotch-Irish settlers the term “Cracker” initially designated a person who boasted, but in American usage the word has come to designate poor whites. McWhiney uses the term to define culture rather than to signify an economic condition. Although all poor whites were Crackers, not all Crackers were poor whites; both, however, were Southerners.

The author insists that Southerners and Northerners were never alike. American colonists who settled south and west of Pennsylvania during the 17th and 18th centuries were mainly from the “Celtic fringe” of the British Isles. The culture that these people retained in the New World accounts in considerable measure for the difference between them and the Yankees of New England, most of whom originated in the lowlands of the southeastern half of the island of Britain. From their solid base in the southern backcountry, Celts and their “Cracker” descendants swept westward throughout the antebellum period until they had established themselves and their practices across the Old South. Basic among those practices that determined their traditional folkways, values, norms, and attitudes was the herding of livestock on the open range, in contrast to the mixed agriculture that was the norm both in southeastern Britain and in New England. The Celts brought to the Old South leisurely ways that fostered idleness and gaiety. Like their Celtic ancestors, Southerners were characteristically violent; they scorned pacifism; they considered fights and duels honorable and consistently ignored laws designed to control their actions. In addition, family and kinship were much more important in Celtic Britain and the antebellum South than in England and the Northern United States. Fundamental differences between Southerners and Northerners shaped the course of antebellum American history; their conflict in the 1860s was not so much brother against brother as culture against culture.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Assuredly the most controversial book about the South to emerge in years, and the discussion of its argument is certain to be heated and extensive.”
—Louisiana History

“Cracker Culture will enjoy a permanent place in the literature of its field. . . . Assign [it] and stand back to watch the fur fly.”
—Journal of the Early Republic

“McWhiney defines and explains the ‘cracker’ culture that emanated from Scotland, Ireland, Wales, and northern England to become the dominant culture among British settlers in the Old South. Characterized primarily by the values of herdsmen, this white ethnic culture valued leisure for leisure’s sake, emphasized an oral tradition over the written word, and placed stress upon ideas that were antagonistic to the life-style of English-dominated northerners. It was, therefore, only a matter of time and circumstance before the two basic cultural heritages—Celtic and English—would collide in a devastating war.”
—Choice

From the Back Cover

Cracker Culture is a provocative study of social life in the Old South that probes the origin of cultural differences between the South and the North throughout American history.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product details

Paperback: 336 pages
Publisher: University Alabama Press (May 30, 1989)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0817304584
ISBN-13: 978-0817304584
Product Dimensions: 6.1 x 1.1 x 6.2 inches
Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 43 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #769,983 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #4935 in Books > Textbooks > Humanities > History > United States
- #18782 in Books > History > Americas > United States > State & Local
- #29009 in Books > Textbooks > Social Sciences

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Indy Sartech

Library Book - Don't spend money on this

January 29, 2018

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

The author does have some interesting sources. That being said, the "cherry picked to fit my narrative" becomes obvious by the third chapter. The only ethnic group to receive any kind review seems to be Southern Germans who brew good beer and aren't like their "Cracker" neighbors. Yanguise are all cold and soulless according to McWhitney, and Southern Celts all Rakes who while gregarious, lack industry, art, or education. Trying to paint tidewater Cavaliers with Mountaineers and Texas Plainsmen under one brush is specious at best, and a very, very contrived effort in this work. If you don't mind academic misogyny, and can get this as a library book, it has worth as a back up read. Don't spend your money on it if you believe in balanced scholarship. If you genuinely believe that all Yanguise are money grubbing and incapable of having honor or fun, and that Southerners are a fun loving but toxic diminutive remnant of Celtic Barbarians, this is a Manifesto level work in thrall with your Hubris.

4 people found this helpful

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Anne Adams

North and South are different!

February 1, 2014

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

I agree with the author of "Cracker Culture," that Yankees and Crackers have a different culture, but as to why, I would disagree. First, the author states the people who immigrated to the south were Celtic, and the Northerners were not. There were plenty of Celts in the North. The British Calvinists were Celts, and there were other Celts from Scotland, Wales, and mainland Europe. We have census records which show many Scottish and Welsh names in New England, right along with the English. I think religion had much more to do with the North and South being different. There were more Quaker/Unitarian influences, in the north, more Catholic influences in the south. The Spanish and French had colonies in what is now the South, and Maryland was Catholic. When the Scottish Calvinists headed south they knew there was slavery there, and had to be more accepting of it, than their northern brethren or their brethren who went west. And, today, I know German Catholics in the south who are totally laid-back Southerners, and it isn't because of their genes. Even more than religion, I think climate and resources had an influence on the two cultures. And, the herding of livestock, as mentioned in the book, had to do with climate, water, and soil conditions, and profitable living. The Celts in the north had one set of circumstances to deal with, and the ones in the south, another.

8 people found this helpful

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T-REX

Very informative to southern culture

August 25, 2018

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

Read this book after it was mentioned in Thomas Sowell’s Black Rednecks and White Liberals.

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Meredith Ancret

A really well written and interesting take on the social ...

April 14, 2018

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

A really well written and interesting take on the social and cultural issues that lead to the Civil War. I used it as a resource for a term paper and I got an A!

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David

ver good book

March 18, 2012

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Most Celts don't really think of themselves as ethnics. A pity, as they are certainly as unique as any other group. This book is a great start to understanding Celtic culture in the U.S. Born Fighting: How the Scots-Irish Shaped America,The Mark of the Scots: Their Astonishing Contributions to History, Science, Democracy, Literature,How the Scots Invented the Modern World: The True Story of How Western Europe's Poorest Nation Created Our World & Everything in It How the Irish Saved Civilization (Hinges of History), and Redneck Shaman all cover the same kind of material, from different perspectives. Celtic influence is very much a part of the US, and shaped US national character considerably. I would have wished this book had gone into somewhat more detail, however it is well worth getting.

3 people found this helpful

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Loren Capsopoulos

Disappointed

March 10, 2013

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

I purchased this book with high hopes. For the most part, I can say that it contained some interesting information. Traditions and customs we have always had, along with "sayings", were given some explanation, for which I am grateful. It also brought back fond memories of my Southern childhood. On the other hand, by printing so many negative comments by Northerners and English visitors to the South, I felt I had been bullied and beaten up. Was this really necessary? Did it add to the book? I think not. It was as though the author agreed with the negative stereotypes. After reading this book, one has the tendency to dislike people of the north and Britain. The South is bashed enough - we sure didn't need more of it.

3 people found this helpful

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Anthony B. Bradley

McWhiney does a wonderful job of explaining the contours of the tense relationships ...

January 27, 2015

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

This book is outstanding. McWhiney does a wonderful job of explaining the contours of the tense relationships and culture norms among varies groups of immigrants from Europe. The book paints the long-standing tensions between Northern and Southern whites in a historical context that will make readers rethink black/white relations in the South, the Civil-War, Jim Crow laws, and the Civil-Rights movement. America has had a caste system that has gone largely unnoticed. McWhiney exposes it. One of the most eye-opening books I've ever read.

6 people found this helpful

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jimbo

Not Too Good!

May 18, 2016

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

The author did not do the Southern population any good. That is amazing in that the author is on the staff of the University of Alabama. I have not finished the book so I hope the author has a few good words for the people of the south. I did not know we were such a trashy people. His judgment of the people of the south is largely based on the observations of those in the north. Maybe the author was raised in the north and is biased toward those of the south.

4 people found this helpful

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