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Theres a story that Benjamin Franklin thought the turkey should be the national bird instead of the eagle. In a 1784 letter addressed to Sarah, his daughter, Franklin wrote:
“For my own part I wish the bald eagle had not been chosen as the representative of our country. He is a bird of bad moral character. He does not get his living honestly. You may have seen him perched on some dead tree, where, too lazy to fish for himself, he watches the labour of the fishing hawk; and when that diligent bird has at length taken a fish, and is bearing it to his nest for the support of his mate and young ones, the bald eagle pursues him, and takes it from him. . . . the turkey is in comparison a much more respectable bird, and withal a true original native of America.”
People often interpret this story to mean that Franklin wanted to replace the eagle on the Great Seal of the United States with a turkey. In a November 1962 cover of “The New Yorker“, cartoonist Anatol Kovarsky did as much. But some historians suggest that Franklin wasnt actually serious. “Yeah, he was joking,” comments Best Life magazine. Likewise, “The Eagle and the Shield: A History of the Great Seal of the United States” (1976), a book put out by the U.S. State Department and authored by Richard S. Patterson and Richardson Dougall, opines that “Franklin was probably not writing seriously,” adding that Franklin had already used the new eagle seal on some of his own publications.
So which is it? Did Franklin want the turkey to be our mascot, was he poking fun at the very idea of having a mascot, or was he making fun of something else entirely? These are good questions, given that Franklin actually helped design the very seal that he is allegedly roasting.
Every Thanksgiving, turkeys grace tables across America as a traditional main course This has led some to claim that Benjamin Franklin actually wanted the turkey to be the national bird rather than the bald eagle But is it true that the turkey was almost the symbol of the United States?
The Myth of Franklin’s Turkey Proposal
A common myth states that Founding Father Benjamin Franklin preferred the turkey over the bald eagle as the national bird. This story originated from a letter Franklin wrote in 1784 to his daughter Sarah, in which he criticized the eagle and spoke favorably of the turkey. However he did not actually propose replacing the eagle on the Great Seal at that time.
Franklin had served on the first committee to design the Great Seal in 1776 but his proposal featured a Biblical scene, not a bird. The eagle was introduced in 1780 by artist William Barton, and finalized in 1782. Franklin’s letter came two years later long after his role in the matter had ended.
Franklin’s Letter and Intent
In his letter, Franklin did call the bald eagle of “bad moral character,” saying it stole food from other birds. He praised the turkey for its bravery and called it a “true original Native of America.” But it appears this was actually a satire of the Society of the Cincinnati, made up of Revolutionary War officers. Their emblem was also an eagle, which Franklin skewered as “not a proper emblem.”
Rather than a serious proposal, it seems Franklin was using the turkey as a literary device to criticize the elite hereditary Society of the Cincinnati. There is no evidence he wrote the letter with the aim of making the turkey the national bird. He was likely lamenting the use of the eagle as a symbol more broadly.
The Eagle Becomes Established as the National Bird
The myth gained traction in the 1800s as Franklin’s letter was published more widely. People assumed he was referring to the national seal, not the Society of the Cincinnati’s eagle emblem. But in reality, the seal’s design had been established with the eagle years before Franklin’s letter.
While Franklin made it clear he was no fan of the bald eagle, he never mounted an organized campaign to replace it on the Great Seal or as the national bird. Beyond his letter, there is no record of Franklin seriously proposing the turkey alternative.
By the late 1700s, the eagle became cemented through repeated use in American symbology and art. For example, an eagle appears on one of the first coins minted in the U.S. in the 1790s. Despite Franklin’s personal objections, the eagle gained wide acceptance over time as a fitting national bird.
How the Turkey Became Associated with Thanksgiving
So why is the turkey so strongly tied to Thanksgiving if not because of an old association with Benjamin Franklin? In fact, turkeys being eaten at Thanksgiving feasts dates back to the very first Thanksgiving in 1621 at the Plymouth colony.
Turkey was abundant in the area and a natural centerpiece for the harvest celebration meal. The tradition stuck, and turkey became the Thanksgiving mainstay nationwide as the holiday grew in popularity through the 1800s and 1900s.
Modern Symbolic Status of the Turkey
The bald eagle remains the undisputed national bird symbol of the United States to this day. However, the turkey has gained some symbolic status as well, albeit unofficial.
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Turkeys are strongly associated with Thanksgiving, a beloved national holiday.
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Turkey pardons by the President became an annual tradition starting in 1947. The “National Thanksgiving Turkey” and its alternate are pardoned from being eaten.
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Turkeys are an economically significant U.S. agricultural product, with over 40 million eaten at Thanksgiving annually.
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Numerous states have named the turkey their official state bird (Alabama, Massachusetts, etc.)
So while the turkey never had a serious chance at national bird status, Benjamin Franklin’s letter helped promote the turkey as a symbol of American identity deserving recognition in its own right. The bald eagle and turkey now share an intertwined legend as two all-American birds.
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In 1780, the design project passed to a new committee, of which Franklin was not a part. It was Philadelphia lawyer William Barton, who entered the project in 1782, who introduced an eagle into the design, according to History.com. Then Charles Thomson, secretary of congress, made some changes; check out his 1782 design at the National Archives. Two pieces of legislation, one in 1782 and one in 1789, made it official: An eagle was on our seal and thus became our de facto national bird.
By the time Franklin wrote to his daughter in 1784, he was no longer part of the seal project. Maybe he was over it and just having a laugh. But not everyone thinks he was joking, exactly. “I dont think Franklin took the idea of a national bird seriously. National birds, national trees, national this and that werent a regular thing back then,” H. W. Brands, author of “The First American: The Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin,” (Doubleday, 2000) told Live Science in an email. “But I think he was serious that turkeys had character traits superior to those of eagles.”
“The story about Benjamin Franklin wanting the National Bird to be a turkey is just a myth,” the Franklin Institute, a science museum and science education center in Philadelphia, writes on its website. But that organization does not say Franklin was joking; it just says that Franklin didnt specifically propose the turkey as the national bird. “Although Benjamin Franklin defended the honor of the turkey against the bald eagle, he did not propose its becoming one of Americas most important symbols,” the Franklin Institute continues.
Franklin’s role in the seal design
The idea of the eagle as Americas national bird comes from the eagles presence on The Great Seal of the United States, also known as the Seal of the United States, according to History.com. On July 4, 1776, the very day that the U.S. declared its independence from Great Britain, the Continental Congress asked Franklin, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson to work as a committee to come up with a seal for the new nation, according to Britannica. Each founder came up with his own proposal, according to a National Archives record. Franklin proposed not a turkey, not an eagle, but this: A scene from Exodus — “Moses standing on the Shore, and extending his Hand over the Sea, thereby causing the same to overwhelm Pharoah … ” Franklin wrote in his proposal.
Franklin, Adams and Jefferson consulted with Philadelphia artist Pierre Eugène du Simitière about the design and ultimately chose a design of du Simitières — still no eagle — for the front of the seal, according to “The Eagle and the Shield.” For the back, they proposed using Franklins Exodus design. The group proposed this double-sided seal design, in the form of a written description, to congress in August 1776, but the legislative body tabled it.
Was the Turkey Almost the National Bird of America? | Turkey Tales | Bald Eagle vs Turkey
FAQ
Did Thomas Jefferson want the turkey to be our national bird?
Who wanted the bald eagle to be the national bird?
What president wanted turkey to be a national bird?
What is America’s national bird?
Why did Benjamin Franklin want the national bird to be a Turkey?
The story about Benjamin Franklin wanting the National Bird to be a turkey is just a myth. This false story began due to a letter Franklin wrote to his daughter criticizing the original eagle design for the Great Seal, saying that it looked more like a turkey. In the letter, Franklin wrote that the “Bald Eagleis a Bird of bad moral Character.
Did Benjamin Franklin want a turkey instead of a bald eagle?
A common myth associated with the creation of America’s Great Seal, which features a bald eagle, is that Benjamin Franklin wanted the seal to have a turkey instead. According to the Franklin Institute, this is false. The claim stems from a letter Franklin wrote to his daughter, Sarah Bache, on Jan. 26, 1784.
What did Franklin consider a Turkey?
In contrast, Franklin called the turkey “a much more respectable bird” and “a true original native of America.” While he considered the eagle “a rank coward,” Franklin believed the turkey to be “a bird of courage” that “would not hesitate to attack a grenadier of the British Guards who should presume to invade his farm yard with a red coat on.”
Is a Turkey a real bird?
For in Truth the Turkey is in Comparison a much more respectable Bird, and withal a true original Native of America. Eagles have been found in all Countries, but the Turkey was peculiar to ours, the first of the Species seen in Europe being brought to France by the Jesuits from Canada, and serv’d up at the Wedding Table of Charles the ninth.