The Florida Historical Quarterly (ISSN 0015-4113) Is Published Quarterly by the Flor- Ida Historical Society, University of South Florida, 4202 E
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COVER Orange County Sheriff Frank Karel’s “Moonshine Raiders” with some of their con- fiscated goods in the 1930s. Photograph courtesy of the Orange County Historical Museum. The Florida Historical Volume LXXIV, Number 1 Summer 1995 The Florida Historical Quarterly (ISSN 0015-4113) is published quarterly by the Flor- ida Historical Society, University of South Florida, 4202 E. Fowler Avenue, Tampa, FL 33620, and is printed by E.O. Painter Printing Co., DeLeon Springs, FL. Second- class postage paid at Tampa, FL, and at additional mailing office. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to the Florida Historical Quarterly, PO. Box 290197, Tampa, FL 33687-0197 Copyright 1995 by the Florida Historical Society, Tampa, Florida. THE FLORIDA HISTORICAL QUARTERLY Jerrell H. Shofner, Interim Editor Samuel Proctor, Editor Emeritus Shannon Lee Moore, Editorial Assistant EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD Raymond O. Arsenault, University of South Florida, St. Petersburg William S. Coker, University of West Florida David R. Colburn, University of Florida James B. Crooks, University of North Florida Kathleen Deagan, University of Florida Wayne Flynt, Auburn University Michael V. Gannon, University of Florida Maxine D. Jones, Florida State University Harry A. Kersey, Jr., Florida Atlantic University Jane Landers, Vanderbilt University Eugene Lyon, Flagler College John K. Mahon, University of Florida Raymond A. Mohl, Florida Atlantic University Gary R. Mormino, University of South Florida Theda Perdue, University of Kentucky Gerald E. Poyo, St. Mary’s University Joe M. Richardson, Florida State University William W. Rogers, Florida State University Daniel L. Schafer, University of North Florida Correspondence concerning contribution, books for review, and all editorial matters should be addressed to the Editor, Florida Historical Quarterly, Department of History, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL 32816-1350. The Quarterly is interested in articles and documents pertaining to the history of Florida. Sources, style, footnote form, originality of material and interpretation, clarity of thought, and interest of readers are considered. All copy, including foot- notes, should be double spaced. Footnotes are to be numbered consecutively in the text and assembled at the end of the article. Particular attention should be given to following the footnote style of the Quarterly. THE AUTHOR SHOULD SUBMIT AN ORIGINAL AND A PHOTOCOPY, RETAINING A COPY FOR SECURITY. Authors are asked to submit articles in IBM WordPerfect 5.0 or 5.1; please include both a hardcopy and a diskette. The Florida Historical Society and the editor of the Florida Historical Quarterly accept no responsibility for statements made or opinions held by authors. The Quarterly reviews books dealing with all aspects of Florida history. Books to be reviewed should be sent to the editor together with price and information on how they may be ordered. Table of Contents CLAUDE PEPPER AND THE SEEDS OF HIS 1950 DEFEAT, 1944-1948 James C. Clark 1 REKINDLING THE SPIRITS: FROM NATIONAL PROHIBITION TO LOCAL OPTION IN FLORIDA, 1928-1935 John J. Guthrie, Jr. 23 CONFEDERATE NITRE BUREAU OPERATIONS IN FLORIDA Marion O. Smith 40 NOTES AND DOCUMENTS LETTERS FROM PENSACOLA ABOUT CONFEDERATE NITRE BUREAU OPERATIONS IN FLORIDA Thomas Muir; Jr. 47 THE ORDER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT: AN IMPORTANT DECORATION FROM A 1715 PLATE FLEET WRECK John de Bry 50 FLORIDA HISTORY IN PERIODICALS Compiled by James A. Schnur 64 BOOK REVIEWS . 72 BOOK NOTES . 103 HISTORY NEWS . 108 DIRECTORS MEETING . 113 BOOK REVIEWS FLORIDA’S FIRST PEOPLE: 12,000 YEARS OF HUMAN HISTORY, by Robin C. Brown reviewed by James G. Cusick YBOR CITY CHRONICLES: A MEMOIR, by Ferdie Pacheco reviewed by Leland Hawes HARRIET BEECHER STOWE: A LIFE, by Joan D. Hedrick reviewed by Sarah Whitmer Foster and John T. Foster, Jr. CONTESTING CASTRO: THE UNITED STATES AND THE TRIUMPH OF THE CUBAN REVO- LUTION, by Thomas G. Paterson reviewed by Neill Macaulay THE SOUTH AND THE NEW DEAL, by Roger Biles reviewed by Michael V. Namorato ALABAMA: THE HISTORY OF A DEEP SOUTH STATE, by William Warren Rogers, et al reviewed by Lynn Willoughby GATE OF HELL: CAMPAIGN FOR CHARLESTON HARBOR, 1863, by Stephen R. Wise reviewed by Howard Jones BEHIND THE MASK OF CHIVALRY THE MAKING OF THE SECOND Ku KLUX KLAN, by Nancy Maclean reviewed by Jeffrey S. Adler VISIBLE WOMEN: NEW ESSAYS ON AMERICAN ACTIVISM, edited by Nancy A. Hewitt and Suzanne Lebsock reviewed by Louise M. Newman ENTREPRENEUR FOR EQUALITY: GOVERNOR RUFUS BULLOCK, COMMERCE, AND RACE IN POST-CIVIL WAR GEORGIA, by Russell Duncan reviewed by Elizabeth Studley Nathans BOND OF IRON: MASTER AND SLAVE AT BUFFALO FORGE, by Charles E. Dew reviewed by Bess Beatty LOYALISTS AND COMMUNITY IN NORTH AMERICA, Edited by Robert M. Calhoon, Tim- othy M. Barnes, and George A. Rawlyk reviewed by Robert R Rea GOVERNOR HENRY ELLIS AND THE TRANSFORMATION OF BRITISH NORTH AMERICA, by Edward J. Cashin reviewed by Robert R Rea ISAAC HARBY OF CHARLESTON, 1788-1828: JEWISH REFORMER AND INTELLECTUAL, by Gary Phillip Zola reviewed by Elliott Ashkenazi LocAL PEOPLE: THE STRUGGLE FOR CIVIL RIGHTS IN MISSISSIPPI, by John Dittmer reviewed by Jack E. Davis THE SIXTIES: FROM MEMORY TO HISTORY, Edited by David Farber reviewed by James A. Hijiya GEORGIA IN BLACK AND WHITE: EXPLORATIONS IN THE RACE RELATIONS OF A SOUTH- ERN STATE, 1865-1950, Edited by John C. Inscoe reviewed by Lewis N. Wynne Claude Pepper and the Seeds of His 1950 Defeat, 1944-1948 by JAMES C. CLARK laude Pepper’s defeat in the 1950 Florida Democratic Sen- C atorial primary has long been seen as the result of a vicious campaign in which his opponents used underhanded methods to win. But while the 1950 campaign between Pepper and George Smathers was one of the nastiest in Florida history, the roots of Pep- per’s loss can be traced to 1945, when he began to feud with Presi- dent Harry Truman and began courting the political left. Those two activities so badly damaged his standing in Florida that he lost the large following which had sent him to the U.S. Senate in three previous elections. The 1950 election was hard fought, but no more so than sev- eral others, including Richard Nixon’s remarkably similar cam- paign in California and Senator Frank Graham’s loss in North Carolina. In both of those races, the winners successfully tied their opponents to various groups linked with communism. Smathers used the same technique, but Pepper had actually flirted with such organizations and had repeatedly praised Soviet leader Joseph Sta- lin. Pepper regarded himself as the political heir to President Franklin Roosevelt and near the end of World War II launched a campaign to position himself as a champion of world peace through closer relations with the Soviet Union. Had events turned out differently, his gamble might have propelled him into the pres- idency instead of to defeat in Florida. Before the United States entered World War II, Pepper spent nearly two years talking about military preparedness and the com- ing American involvement in the war. Although he was heavily crit- icized at the time, he turned out to be correct and became a national figure. As the war progressed, Pepper thought he could advance his political career by advancing the issue of world peace. Unfortunately, for Pepper, world events shattered his dream for Mr. Clark is a doctoral student in history, University of Florida. [1] 2 FLORIDA HISTORICAL QUARTERLY world peace. Instead of political advancement, Pepper endured five years of negative publicity that few politicians could have sur- vived. Just seven weeks after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Pepper began to think about the postwar period. He wrote to his friend Raymond Robins, ". I am doing what I can to foster an ap- preciation of the necessity of some kind of a world governmental structure to be built upon the Post War wreckage.“1 In April 1942, Pepper submitted a resolution calling for the United States to join a world organization after the war.2 He believed the issue of world peace would increase his stand- ing in the Senate, where he had often been seen as a publicity seeker. He told former Senator Sherman Minton he had “a feeling that I have gained some influence in the Senate. There is no need concealing the fact that all of them have never thought that I was the greatest person in the world.“3 In the Senate, Pepper was one of Franklin Roosevelt’s most loyal supporters, always the first to rally to a Roosevelt idea and will- ing to lend his considerable oratorical skills to defend the Presi- dent on the Senate floor. Roosevelt’s death in 1945 was a severe blow to Pepper. The senator had come to believe that he was the logical heir to the Roosevelt political legacy and his relations with the new President, Harry Truman, were at best cool. Years later, Pepper told an interviewer, “I liked Harry Truman, but he was not someone to take seriously.“4 It was a major error on Pepper’s part to underestimate Truman. Within weeks of Roosevelt’s death, Pepper began to have reser- vations about Truman. At first, he wrote that Truman, ". has shown good judgement, good sense and good manners. He will not be a great President but I believe he will be a good President."5 But soon he became disillusioned. According to Henry Wallace, Pep- per “spoke at some little length about his disillusion about the way things were going. He seemed to think there was danger of the 1. Pepper to Raymond Robins, January 28, 1942, Claude Pepper Papers, The Mildred and Claude Pepper Library, Florida State University, Tallahassee. (Hereinafter, Pepper Papers). 2. United States Congress, Senate Resolution 135, 78 Cong., 1 Sess., 1943, 2.