Nemo me impune lacesset

On May 9, 1754 old Ben Franklin pulled out his whittling knife and went to work on a wooden stamp that would become the first known political cartoon in an American newspaper. The stamp first appeared in the Pennsylvania Gazette and it depicted a snake cut into eight sections. Each of these eight sections represented one of the eight individual colonies. The snake was also shaped in such a fashion that the curves represented the northeastern coastline. The message was succinct – “Join or Die”.

Considering the current state of our education system, if you think that this had something to do with America's contention for independence from Great Britain, I would ask you to take a side trip over here and read a little about a war that went on from around1754-1763. After all, I didn't learn any of this while being indoctrinated, err I mean 'educated' in those hallowed halls we call the public school system. I did learn that you can talk someone into completing an electrical path for a welder using only their hands. But only if they're loaded and even then only once. Ah, but that is a story for another time. So go ahead and follow the link, I'll wait...


Good to see you back. We were talking about the snake that Mr. Franklin had carved and put to print in an effort to get the colonies to unify against France and her native allies in the French and Indian War. While there are many theories as to why he chose a snake, I think his thought process will be brought out in later years.


The symbol of the snake spread throughout the colonies and evolved in the few short years approaching the American Revolution. The snake shows up in a multitude of places and mediums. A notable appearance is made when Paul Revere adopts a snake fighting a dragon (representing Great Britain), in his newspaper The Massachusetts Spy.


Now we come to a letter signed, “An American Guesser” published in the Pennsylvania Journal on December 27, 1775. The author was later identified as none other than, you guessed it, Benjamin Franklin. Portion below:


[snip]
“I observed on one of the drums belonging to the marines now raising, there was painted a Rattle-Snake, with this modest motto under it, "Don't tread on me." As I know it is the custom to have some device on the arms of every country, I supposed this may have been intended for the arms of America; and as I have nothing to do with public affairs, and as my time is perfectly my own, in order to divert an idle hour, I sat down to guess what could have been intended by this uncommon device...”


[snip]
“I recollected that her eye excelled in brightness, that of any other animal, and that she has no eye-lids. She may therefore be esteemed an emblem of vigilance. She never begins an attack, nor, when once engaged, ever surrenders: She is therefore an emblem of magnanimity and true courage. As if anxious to prevent all pretensions of quarreling with her, the weapons with which nature has furnished her, she conceals in the roof of her mouth, so that, to those who are unacquainted with her, she appears to be a most defenseless animal; and even when those weapons are shown and extended for her defense, they appear weak and contemptible; but their wounds however small, are decisive and fatal. Conscious of this, she never wounds 'till she has generously given notice, even to her enemy, and cautioned him against the danger of treading on her.”


[snip]
“I confess I was wholly at a loss what to make of the rattles, 'till I went back and counted them and found them just thirteen, exactly the number of the Colonies united in America; and I recollected too that this was the only part of the Snake which increased in numbers.”


“Don't Tread on Me” inscribed below it on a Marine's drum? I guess jar-heads can come up with something on their own (wink). Actually it is unknown if the famous symbol originated from a stroke of ground-pounding creativity or if it was based on a design created by Christopher Gadsden.


Now I know you are shaking your head and asking me, “Now who in the hell is Christopher Gadsden and what is all this talk of Marines? You know the honor of the best branch of military belongs to the Navy.”


Yes my friend, you speak the truth in the latter and give me a moment, and I will answer the former.


You see, 1775 is when the Navy was created to intercept British ships carrying supplies to British troops in America and protect America's commerce. The first naval fleet would consist of four ships with the Alfred being the named first. The Continental Congress authorized the creation of five companies of Marines to accompany the Navy on their maiden mission.


Enter Christopher Gadsden, a Continental Colonel from South Carolina and one of the three members of the Marine committee responsible for getting the Navy underway. Before the sailors and Marines shoved off, Commodore Esek Hopkins (newly appointed commander-in-chief of America's Navy) received a standard bearing the “Don't Tread On Me” symbol, from Christopher Gadsden, to be used as his personal standard. Thus is became known as the Gadsden Flag.


The rattlesnake continued to appear throughout the colonies on money, in newspapers, and in many variations of flags, as America then had not made “Old Glory” the official flag. Notable standards containing the symbol were the Independent Battalion (Westmoreland County, PA), the Minutemen of Culpeper County VA, and the Continental Navy Jack.


You take fierce courage, whole-hearted independence, and a willingness to defend themselves and there you have it my friend -- a brief history on how one of my favorite symbols and what is represents came about.





Oh, and watch where you step.