Join, or Die

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The cartoon, taken from USFlag.org

Join, or Die is a famous woodcut of a cut up snake, created by Benjamin Franklin and first published in his Pennsylvania Gazette on May 9, 1754.^[1]

The cartoon's purpose was to emphasize the need for the various colonies and regions of the future United States of America to work together to help protect themselves against the marauding French and their Indian allies during the French and Indian War, in accordance with the Albany Plan. It showed that the colonies were in competition between each other and the only way to defeat the French and the Indians was to join together, hence the term Join, or Die. As Franklin wrote,

"The Confidence of the French in this Undertaking seems well-grounded on the present disunited State of the British Colonies, and the extreme Difficulty of bringing so many different Governments and Assemblies to agree in any speedy and effectual Measures for our common Defence and Security; while our Enemies have the very great Advantage of being under one Direction, with one Council, and one Purse...".^[2]

Later, in the years preceding and during the American Revolutionary War, the image became a potent symbol of Colonial unity and resistance to what was seen as British oppression.

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[edit] References

1. ^ Join or Die. Retrieved on May 01, 2006.
2. ^ The Writings of Benjamin Franklin: Philadelphia, 1726 - 1757. Retrieved on May 01, 2006.