2012
Join or Die, a cartoon representing American colonies
A memorable post in Benjamin Franklin’s Pennsylvania Gazette. On this day in history, May 9, 1754, a now well-known political cartoon was run in Benjamin Franklin’s Pennsylvania Gazette. The “Join, or Die” political cartoon shows a snake divided into eight ‘pieces,’ each of which are labeled with the initials of a colony or region established in America to date – New England, at the time, was a region of four colonies – differing from the number of colonies you find represented on the Betsy Ross Flag. Accompanying the political cartoon, Franklin also ran an editorial warning of the suggested danger of a disunited state; he stated how imperative a colonial union was for their safety and survival against the French and Native Americans. A month or so later on June 24, 1754, delegates of the American colonies agreed that some semblance of a colonial union was needed. At the time of its first run in the press, the “Join, or Die” campaign to was used to rally against the French and to manage Native American relations. However, in 1765, the meaning changed, now urging colonies to unite against Great Britain. The cartoon continued to symbolize colonial freedom through the American … 
