Join or Die
In reflecting on Benjamin Franklin’s comment (see Thomas Paine post below) during the signing of the Declaration of Independence that “We must all hang together, or we surely will all hang separately”, I am reminded of another of Franklin’s ideas. At the outset of the American push for independence, Franklin published the following “Join or Die” woodcut/political cartoon, that was intended to demonstrate the need for unity amongst the colonies.
Franklin knew that the UK would divide and (re)conquer the colonies, were there dissention in the ranks. He also knew that our best chance of success (in all things) was cohesiveness.
Some say this graphic was the origin of the original flag of the United States, the Gadsden Flag.
The rattle snake is an American original: no one had seen anything like it in the “Old World”. It keeps to itself, takes care of itself, and is dangerous only when threatened. It was for these reasons that it was used on the Gadsden Flag.
October 6th, 2007 at 7:05 am
Thank you for sharing!