The Blog of Colonial Williamsburg
June 14 is Flag Day, marking the day in 1777 that the Second Continental Congress adopted the stars and stripes as America’s national banner. But it takes a bit more than the dawn’s early light to make out the origins of the flag. Still, it’s worth a try….
Join, or Die by Benjamin Franklin, Pennsylvania Gazette (1754). Library of Congress.
In 1754, with the French and Indians attacking British settlements in the Ohio Valley, Benjamin Franklin proposed “a plan for the union of all the colonies.” To illustrate the need for unity, Franklin published (and some think drew) one of America’s earliest political cartoons and perhaps the earliest symbol of a united America (albeit under British rule).
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Detail from A View of the Year 1765 by Paul Revere (1765). Courtesy American Antiquarian Society.
In this excerpt from Why the Turkey Didn’t Fly. we look into how an everyday part of nature was used as a potent symbol of freedom. Though largely forgotten today, to the American patriots of the 18th century, liberty trees and liberty poles were representations of their cause at least as prominent as liberty bells or lady liberties. …
On this day in history, in 1770, the Boston Massacre, a major milestone on the road to revolution, took place. The first published report in Williamsburg came three weeks later, with rumors in William Rind’s Virginia Gazette of a “fray” resulting in British soldiers being driven out of town by angry inhabitants. By the next issue, new details painted a more somber picture, and the incident was already being referred to as a “massacre.”
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You can know what a community values by its bells. In Williamsburg we have bells at the Capitol, at Bruton Parish Church, and at the Market House. This year the First Baptist Church renewed the Let Freedom Ring Challenge, inviting people from all walks of life to take a turn at the cord and ring their historic bell, to inspire us to keep working towards freedom and equality for all. With that in mind, we present this excerpt from “Why the Turkey Didn’t Fly,” relating the surprising story of the Liberty Bell’s origin and evolution as a symbol for our aspirations as a people….
Benjamin Franklin had only a passing acquaintance with Williamsburg, which he visited twice. But he belongs to all Americans, an icon of the nation’s most optimistic sense of itself: rising from humble origins to ever-greater heights through ingenuity and force of will, while maintaining a generous spirit. This excerpt from Why the Turkey Didn’t Fly explores the origins of Ben’s lasting fame….
To commemorate Washington’s famous crossing of the Delaware on Christmas night 1776, we present this excerpt from Why the Turkey Didn’t Fly: The Surprising Stories Behind the Eagle, the Flag, Uncle Sam, and Other Images of America, by Paul Aron.…