Join, or Die. On May 9, 1754, Benjamin Franklin published what is widely believed to be the very first* American political cartoon in his colony newspaper, The Pennsylvania Gazette, featuring a rattlesnake severed into eight pieces, loosely outlining the coastline of what would eventually become these United States. Franklin was on his way to Albany, as a delegate to a conference addressing threats from the French and Indian forces against the British, and feared the increasingly divisive relationship and discussion between the colonies. “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,” Franklin wrote. Indeed, disagreement in America has deep history and roots. The Join, or Die. image has resurfaced throughout history t...
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