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Library of Congress Research Guides

Join or Die: Topics in Chronicling America

One of the earliest political cartoons in American history featured a severed snake with the phrase: "Join or Die." This guide provides access to materials related to “Join or Die” in the Chronicling America digital collection of historic newspapers.

Introduction

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"Join or Die." May 9, 1754. The Pennsylvania Gazette (Philadelphia, PA), Image 2. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers.

In The Pennsylvania Gazette, May 9, 1754, Benjamin Franklin published the "Join or Die" woodcut, the first political cartoon published in a newspaper in America. It represents America as a snake severed into various provinces. Prior to the French and Indian War, Franklin hoped to persuade the American colonies to unite against the French and their Native American allies. The image, the first to address unification of the colonies, would later be used as a symbol of the American Revolution.

During the American Revolution, the call to "Join or Die" made multiple reappearances throughout early American newspapers. However, this time, the call was for the American colonies to join against the British for independence. Read more about it!

The information in this guide focuses on primary source materials found in the digitized historic newspapers from the digital collection Chronicling America.

The timeline below highlights important dates related to this topic and a section of this guide provides some suggested search strategies for further research in the collection.

Timeline

May 9, 1751 In The Pennsylvania Gazette, "Americanus" suggests sending rattle snakes back to England in response to the exporting of felons to the Colonies. "Americanus" is a pseudonym belonging to Benjamin Franklin.
May 9, 1754 The first known instance of the "Join or Die" political cartoon is published in The Pennsylvania Gazette. This is the first image to address unification of the colonies.
September 21, 1765 The "Join or Die" image is published on the masthead of The Constitutional Courant at the onset of the American Revolution.
July 7, 1774 The Massachusetts Spy, or, Thomas's Boston Journal publishes a different "Join or Die" political cartoon underneath the newspaper's masthead. In this version, the snake confronts a winged beast.
July 27, 1774 The Pennsylvania Journal, or, Weekly Advertiser publishes a modified version of the political cartoon changed to "Unite or Die."
December 27, 1775 In The Pennsylvania Journal, or, Weekly Advertiser, "American Guesser" (another Franklin pseudonym) wrote about seeing the rattlesnake symbol on "one of the drums belonging to the marines ... with this modest motto underneath it, "Don't Tread on Me." The rattlesnake is adopted as a representation of America.
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