Benjamin Franklin Join or Die Cartoon Print

Benjamin Franklin "Join or Die" Cartoon Print First published in Dr. Franklin's Pennsylvania Gazette on May 9, 1754. The original publication by the Gazette is the earliest known pictorial representation of colonial union produced by a British colonist in America. It is a woodcut showing a snake severed into eighths, with each segment labelled with the initials of a British American colony or region. New England was represented as one segment, rather than the four colonies it was at that time. In addition, Delaware and Georgia were omitted completely. Thus, it has 8 segments of snake rather than the traditional 13 colonies. The cartoon appeared along with Franklin's editorial about the "disunited state" of the colonies, and helped make his point about the importance of colonial unity. During that era, there was a superstition that a snake which had been cut into pieces would come back to life if the pieces were put together before sunset.[citation needed] The cartoon became a symbol of colonial freedom during the American Revolutionary War. All Prints are presented & displayed at the largest size/resolution available. The system will prevent you from choosing a size larger than the image is capable. Range through the sizes available from smallest to largest and choose your size of choice. zazzle.com/sovereigns*