The cut-up snake is America’s first political cartoon. Published by Benjamin Franklin on May 9, 1754, in The Pennsylvania Gazette, it shows a snake severed into eight pieces with the caption “Join, or Die.” Each segment represents a British colony or group of colonies, and the message is simple: unite or face destruction.
What the Snake Represents
The snake is a timber rattlesnake, and its body is divided into eight labeled segments. From tail to head, the initials read: S.C. (South Carolina), N.C. (North Carolina), V. (Virginia), M. (Maryland), P. (Pennsylvania), N.J. (New Jersey), N.Y. (New York), and N.E. (New England). New England appears as the head and covers four colonies at once: Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire. Georgia and Delaware are left off entirely, likely because Georgia was still a very young colony and Delaware was governed alongside Pennsylvania at the time.
The fact that the snake is cut apart is the whole point. A severed snake is dead. Franklin was arguing that the colonies, acting separately, were just as helpless. Only by joining together could they survive.
Why Franklin Published It
Franklin created the woodcut in the spring of 1754, just before the French and Indian War broke out. France was expanding its territory in the Ohio Valley, allied with several Native American nations, and the individual British colonies had no coordinated defense. Each colony had its own militia, its own priorities, and little interest in helping its neighbors.
Franklin wanted to change that. The cartoon ran alongside his editorial urging the colonies to form a unified plan of defense. Weeks later, he presented his Albany Plan of Union at a meeting of colonial delegates, proposing a shared government for military and diplomatic purposes. The plan was rejected by every colonial legislature, but the image stuck.
The Folk Belief Behind the Image
Franklin’s choice of a cut snake wasn’t random. A common superstition in the 18th century held that if you cut a snake into pieces and placed the pieces back together before sunset, the snake would come back to life. The cartoon plays directly on this belief: the colonies are the severed pieces, and reuniting them is the only way to bring the whole creature back from the dead. The “or Die” in the caption implies a deadline. Rejoin now or it’s too late.
How Its Meaning Changed Over Time
Franklin originally designed the cartoon to rally the colonies against France. But by the 1760s and 1770s, the enemy had changed. As tensions with Britain escalated over taxation and self-governance, colonial newspapers reprinted the severed snake to argue for unity against the Crown instead. The same image that once called for loyalty within the British Empire became a symbol of rebellion against it.
During the Revolutionary War, the rattlesnake evolved beyond Franklin’s original cartoon. It appeared on drums, military buttons, and battle flags. The most famous descendant is the Gadsden Flag, designed in 1775, which features a coiled timber rattlesnake on a bright yellow background with the words “Dont Tread on Me” (intentionally missing the apostrophe). Where Franklin’s snake was dead and divided, the Gadsden snake is alive, whole, and ready to strike.
Why a Rattlesnake Specifically
Franklin and other colonial leaders saw the timber rattlesnake as a natural metaphor for the American character. Rattlesnakes are native to North America, found across the colonies, and generally left people alone unless provoked. Once threatened, though, they fight without retreating. Franklin once wrote that the rattlesnake “never begins an attack nor, when once engaged, ever surrenders.” That combination of peaceful restraint and fierce self-defense made it an ideal stand-in for the colonists’ self-image.
The rattlesnake also carried a practical symbolism. Its rattles only work as a complete set. A single rattle segment makes no sound; together, they produce the distinctive warning buzz. Like the colonies themselves, the individual parts are unremarkable. The whole is what carries power.
Where You See It Today
The “Join, or Die” snake remains one of the most recognized political images in American history. It holds the distinction of being the first political cartoon published in an American newspaper. You’ll find it reproduced on flags, T-shirts, bumper stickers, and tattoos, typically used to express ideas about national unity, self-reliance, or political solidarity. Both liberal and conservative groups have adopted it at different times, each reading their own cause into Franklin’s original call for cooperation. The image is flexible enough to mean “we need each other” or “don’t mess with us,” depending on who’s using it and which version of the snake they choose: the severed one begging for unity, or the coiled one daring you to come closer.