Age of Barbarity

Book excerpt: A near civil war swept Florida—and much of America—in the wake of World War I and Prohibition. It pitted white versus black, Protestant versus Catholic, wet versus dry, and savagery versus civilization. Age of Barbarity: The Forgotten Fight for the Soul of Florida is the untold story of this civil war, as lived through the eyes of the people who fought.Florida's conflict saw the storming of jails, the maiming of Catholic clergy, and the fierce resistance of patriots, black and white.The battle for modern Florida climaxed in an unlikely place: the small river city of Palatka. The Florida Ku Klux Klan reached the peak of its power there in 1926. And it was there that men and women of bravery and desperation dealt the Klan its most significant defeat.The multi-racial, multi-faith Florida we know today—much like the America we know—emerged from the crucible of the extraordinarily violent 15-year period between 1915 and 1930. The men and women of Palatka, Florida—soldiers, lawyers, workers, and business leaders—did far more than their share to bring it about. We should remember their names.