"Join, or die".

On May 9, 1754, a curious illustration appeared in the Pennsylvania Gazette. It was accompanied by an editorial, an article that expresses an opinion on a political or social issue. The illustration, labeled "Join, or Die," was the first known political cartoon, or drawing of an editorial opinion, by an American. Historians believe that both the cartoon and the editorial were products of the Gazette's publisher, Benjamin Franklin.

At the time, the British Colonies in North America were scattered along the Atlantic coast. But the French were also making inroads in North America, claiming land that stretched from eastern Canada to the Rocky Mountains. Tensions were growing. Indians allied with the French were killing American settlers in New England and New York. French soldiers seized a fort erected by Virginians at the forks of the Monongahela River in the Ohio Valley. War seemed inevitable.

Southern colonists saw the conflict as the North's problem. Franklin disagreed. He believed that the Colonies should unite for self-defense. "The Confidence of the French in this Undertaking seems well-grounded on the present disunited State of the British Colonies," Franklin wrote. A month after the cartoon and editorial appeared, Franklin presented a Plan of Union at a conference of seven Colonies in Albany, New York.

Although the plan was not adopted, Franklin's idea became a seed of eventual revolution. His cartoon became one of the most famous ever published. Study the cartoon, then answer the questions below.

QUESTIONS Write your answers on a separate sheet of paper.

1. Describe the snake in the cartoon.

2. What does its chopped body convey?

3. What do the initials next to each section of the snake stand for?

4. What does N.E. stand for?

5. What does S.C. stand for?

6. Is there a geographic progression in the snake's segments?

7. Which segment represented Franklin's home colony?

8. What is Franklin's fear, expressed in the cartoon?

9. What does the phrase "this Undertaking" in Franklin's editorial mean?

10. How might this cartoon have helped lead to the American Revolution?

BONUS: Draw your own cartoon to illustrate the problem Franklin addressed in his cartoon.

Answer Key

1. The snake is cut into pieces.

2. It symbolizes disunity among the American Colonies.

3. They represent the names of the Colonies.

4. New England

5. South Carolina 

6. Yes; the segments at the head start in the north, New England, and go south as they get to the tail, South Carolina.

7. the segment marked P for Pennsylvania

8. that the Colonies would not join together and would be overcome by the French

9. the French attempt to seize American territory

10. The idea of joining together would later enable the Colonies to unite to achieve their independence from England.