Garling Gauge

Ben Franklin: Turkey Should Be America’s Symbol

A Bird of Courage

One wonders if the Thanksgiving feast would be the same if Ben Franklin had gotten his wish.

As described from this edited excerpt of greatseal.com:

The Eagle, Ben Franklin, and the Turkey

A year and a half after the Great Seal was adopted by Congress on June 20, 1782 – with the bald eagle as its centerpiece – Benjamin Franklin wrote a letter to his daughter and shared some thoughts about the eagle as a symbol for America. He did not express these personal musings elsewhere, but they have become legendary.

Writing from France on January 26, 1784 to his daughter Sally (Mrs. Sarah Bache) in Philadelphia, Franklin casts doubt on the propriety of using the Bald Eagle to symbolize the “brave and honest Cincinnati of America,” a newly formed society of revolutionary war officers.

The society’s insignia had a poorly drawn eagle that looked more like a turkey, which prompted Franklin’s naturally inquisitive mind to compare and contrast the two birds as a symbol for the United States.

Franklin’s Letter to His Daughter (excerpt)

“For my own part I wish the Bald Eagle had not been chosen the Representative of our Country. He is a Bird of bad moral Character. He does not get his Living honestly. You may have seen him perched on some dead Tree near the River, where, too lazy to fish for himself, he watches the Labour of the Fishing Hawk; and when that diligent Bird has at length taken a Fish, and is bearing it to his Nest for the Support of his Mate and young Ones, the Bald Eagle pursues him and takes it from him.

“With all this Injustice, he is never in good Case but like those among Men who live by Sharping & Robbing he is generally poor and often very lousy. Besides he is a rank Coward: The little King Bird not bigger than a Sparrow attacks him boldly and drives him out of the District. He is therefore by no means a proper Emblem for the brave and honest Cincinnati of America who have driven all the King birds from our Country . . .

“I am on this account not displeased that the Figure is not known as a Bald Eagle, but looks more like a Turkey. For the Truth the Turkey is in Comparison a much more respectable Bird, and withal a true original Native of America . . . He is besides, though a little vain & silly, a Bird of Courage, and would not hesitate to attack a Grenadier of the British Guards who should presume to invade his Farm Yard with a red Coat on.”

Franklin previously suggested other symbols.

In his 1775 letter published in a magazine, he made a good case for the Rattlesnake as an appropriate symbol of “the temper and conduct of America.”

The rattlesnake from the 1778 Georgia issued $20 bill.
(Nemo me impune lacesset) “No one will provoke me with impunity.”

Benjamin Franklin’s penned his thoughts on the rattlesnake under the pseudonym “An American Guesser”, published in the Pennsylvania Journal on December 27, 1775. “Written after fighting had begun between the Colonists and the British, but before the Declaration of Independence, it gives us a glimpse into Franklin’s observant mind.”

I observed on one of the drums belonging to the marines now raising, there was painted a Rattle-Snake, with this modest motto under it, “Don’t tread on me.” As I know it is the custom to have some device on the arms of every country, I supposed this may have been intended for the arms of America; and as I have nothing to do with public affairs, and as my time is perfectly my own, in order to divert an idle hour, I sat down to guess what could have been intended by this uncommon device – I took care, however, to consult on this occasion a person who is acquainted with heraldry, from whom I learned, that it is a rule among the learned of that science “That the worthy properties of the animal, in the crest-born, shall be considered,” and, “That the base ones cannot have been intended;” he likewise informed me that the ancients considered the serpent as an emblem of wisdom, and in a certain attitude of endless duration – both which circumstances I suppose may have been had in view. Having gained this intelligence, and recollecting that countries are sometimes represented by animals peculiar to them, it occurred to me that the Rattle-Snake is found in no other quarter of the world besides America, and may therefore have been chosen, on that account, to represent her.

But then “the worldly properties” of a Snake I judged would be hard to point out. This rather raised than suppressed my curiosity, and having frequently seen the Rattle-Snake, I ran over in my mind every property by which she was distinguished, not only from other animals, but from those of the same genus or class of animals, endeavoring to fix some meaning to each, not wholly inconsistent with common sense.

I recollected that her eye excelled in brightness, that of any other animal, and that she has no eye-lids. She may therefore be esteemed an emblem of vigilance. She never begins an attack, nor, when once engaged, ever surrenders: She is therefore an emblem of magnanimity and true courage. As if anxious to prevent all pretensions of quarreling with her, the weapons with which nature has furnished her, she conceals in the roof of her mouth, so that, to those who are unacquainted with her, she appears to be a most defenseless animal; and even when those weapons are shown and extended for her defense, they appear weak and contemptible; but their wounds however small, are decisive and fatal. Conscious of this, she never wounds ’till she has generously given notice, even to her enemy, and cautioned him against the danger of treading on her.

Was I wrong, Sir, in thinking this a strong picture of the temper and conduct of America? The poison of her teeth is the necessary means of digesting her food, and at the same time is certain destruction to her enemies. This may be understood to intimate that those things which are destructive to our enemies, may be to us not only harmless, but absolutely necessary to our existence. I confess I was wholly at a loss what to make of the rattles, ’till I went back and counted them and found them just thirteen, exactly the number of the Colonies united in America; and I recollected too that this was the only part of the Snake which increased in numbers. Perhaps it might be only fancy, but, I conceited the painter had shown a half formed additional rattle, which, I suppose, may have been intended to represent the province of Canada.

‘Tis curious and amazing to observe how distinct and independent of each other the rattles of this animal are, and yet how firmly they are united together, so as never to be separated but by breaking them to pieces. One of those rattles singly, is incapable of producing sound, but the ringing of thirteen together, is sufficient to alarm the boldest man living.

The Rattle-Snake is solitary, and associates with her kind only when it is necessary for their preservation. In winter, the warmth of a number together will preserve their lives, while singly, they would probably perish. The power of fascination attributed to her, by a generous construction, may be understood to mean, that those who consider the liberty and blessings which America affords, and once come over to her, never afterwards leave her, but spend their lives with her. She strongly resembles America in this, that she is beautiful in youth and her beauty increaseth with her age, “her tongue also is blue and forked as the lightning, and her abode is among impenetrable rocks.”

In 1776, he made an official suggestion while on the committee Congress appointed on July 4th to design the Great Seal. His idea was an action scene with Moses and Pharaoh, which the committee recommended for the reverse side of the Great Seal.

In the story of America’s Great Seal, a particularly relevant chapter is the imagery suggested by Benjamin Franklin in August 1776. He chose the dramatic scene described in Exodus, where people confronted a tyrant in order to gain their freedom.

“Pharaoh sitting in an open Chariot, a Crown on his head and a Sword in his hand, passing through the divided Waters of the Red Sea in Pursuit of the Israelites: Rays from a Pillar of Fire in the Cloud, expressive of the divine Presence and Command, beaming on Moses who stands on the shore and extending his hand over the Sea causes it to overwhelm Pharaoh.”

“Motto: Rebellion to Tyrants is Obedience to God.”

Franklin’s design was recommended by the first committee for the reverse side of the Great Seal. The above realization was made by Benson J. Lossing for Harper’s New Monthly Magazine in July 1856. The first committee made no sketch (that survives) of their design – one that is more historical than religious

Thomas Jefferson liked the motto “Rebellion to Tyrants is Obedience to God” so much, he used it on his personal seal. Also, it seems to have inspired the upper motto on the final reverse side of the Great Seal: Annuit Coeptis (God has favored our undertakings).

‘In God We Trust’ is bad enough.

There was not a “great debate amongst the Founding Fathers” (as suggested by the History Channel’s “Secrets of the Dollar Bill”) as to which bird would be the national one. Congress approved Charles Thomson’s eagle design the same day he submitted it – June 20, 1782.

There was however a veritable menagerie of feathered symbols in the Great Seal designs suggested by the preliminary committees: a two-headed eagle, a rooster, a dove, and a “phoenix in flames.”

So would America have been better off with a rattlesnake, turkey, or eagle as our nation’s symbol?

In a 2001 article from the Weber State University paper The Signpost, a local farmer and student provided their snippets of wisdom:

Warren Bailey, a former turkey grower and feed superintendent at the Moroni Feed Co-op, said he could understand why Franklin thought the wild turkey would be an excellent national bird.

“Well, what they say is that the wild turkey is a very smart and cunning bird; domestic turkeys aren’t anything like that. There’s differences between domestic turkeys and wild turkeys. Domestic turkeys can’t even fly over the fence, ” Bailey said. “If they can find a way to voluntarily die, they’ll do it.”

Weber State University senior, Spencer Heath, said that the eagle is the right choice for the national bird.

“I think that if we had the wild turkey as our national bird, people would think less of the United States. They’d think of us being an overweight , awkward country,” Heath said. “I think the eagle much better represents the strength of the U.S.”

Good thing Franklin didn’t get his wish. We certainly wouldn’t want the rest of the world thinking America was overweight and awkward.

Happy Thanksgiving.

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Category: Politics

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