The original Johnny Cake goes back far before the civil war. I know Johnny Cakes from the Caribbean (before slaves were brought to America).

The Johnny cake comes from the Caribbean..originally called the Journey cake and was eaten on the way to work by the locals. Due to slang..it became "Johnny Cake"

You may want to call them Johnny Cakes, BUT the true name is "PLAIN OLD HOT WATER CORNBREAD". I'm from Louisiana, but I know it as Johnny Cakes from N.E. area...never heard the term down south. Regardless of the location....its the best corn meal and water I've every had. ha!ha!ha!

Johnnycakes were developed in Rhode Island (when a corner of it was part of Massachusetts). Many cultures have developed the same fried corn meal dish, but most independently. It's a simple meal, but is made from very unique white, hard flint corn grown in this pat of New England, and was using it was probably taught to them by the Saconnet Indians, a tribe within the Wampanoag Indian nation.

Original Johnny Cake goes much farther back then this. It was developed by the Mayan people and was fried in palm oil and served with a coco liqueur sauce. The trick was using real human bone: it kept the corn from developing to much "glue" when it was fermenting over the days.

Hey Ya'll! I have to say I whole heartedly agree with "Trucker Nana"! I too am from Louisiana and this is definitely Hot Water Cornbread. Yummy! This is the same recipe passed down to me from both my mother and father's families from generations passed. I was curious about Johnny Cakes because that name is referenced in movies and books frequently. Glad to finally know what they are. Thanks!

It got the name Johnny cakes cause island accent. when we say journey it sounds just like johnny so the name picked up but it came from the English the taught the Indians how to make it.

People this recipe has been developed independently by every people who ever grew and ground cornmeal. It's corn meal, water, and salt, fried. There are no secret ingredients known only to one culture that needed to passed down in order for others to know it. You can call it whatever you want to call it - whatever they called it where you came from or first read about it from.

Johnny Cakes are hot water cornbread cakes originated from Island people/Native People. Keep the facts straight please.
No cook likes to be overlooked and don't want credit given to someone who is covetous.

Johnnycake (also shawnee cake, johnny bread and journey cake) is a cornmeal flatbread that was an early American staple food and is prepared on the Atlantic coast from Newfoundland to Jamaica.The food originates from the native inhabitants of North America. It is still eaten in the West Indies, Dominican Republic, Bahamas, Colombia, and Bermuda as well as in the United States. The earliest attestation of the term "johnny cake" is from 1739 (in South Carolina); the spelling "journey cake" is only attested from 1775 (on the Gulf coast).
The word is likely based on the word "Jonakin," recorded in New England in 1765, itself derived from the word "jannock," recorded in Northern England in the sixteenth century. According to Edward Ellis Morris, the term johnnycake was the name given "by the [American] negroes to a cake made of Indian corn (maize) and those are the facts.

Everybody has their own name and facts but down here in good old Louisiana its plain old Hot Water Cornbread and it is sooo good, and thats all I gotta say about that.

I was born in Arkansas and my nana made these for me but we called them hoecakes

I think each of you are overlooking the obvious. Each early civilization can in fact create similar tools, dress, and even food. Think of bows and arrows or pottery. Sure some one was "first." Good luck digging through pre-history to find the cook and people to give credit.

Cool!

These comments are the biggest load of politically correct, butt kissing BS I have ever seen. Somebody somewhere fried corn bread and suddenly all y'all want to rush and claim the Indians or African slaves invented Johnny Cakes. All this virtue signaling is disgusting.