"Join, Or Die": The First Political Cartoon (1754)

Most historians agree on the fact that this drawing was the very first political cartoon. Its creator was none other than America’s beloved jack of all trades, Benjamin Franklin. He had written an article to be published in May 9th, 1754 in the Pennsylvania Gazette. His editorial urged the colonies to ban together over the issue of attacks from the Iroquois and increasing tensions with France and Great Britain. He thought a picture would be a convincing way to convey his message. So he chiseled into wood a crude drawing of a snake split into 8 sections, representing each of the colonies, with the words “JOIN, or DIE” underneath. 

There was a legend in those days that a snake could come back to life if its severed sections came back together before dusk. Pleased with the drawing, the Gazette pressed it onto the newspaper, beside the editorial. The cartoon was a great success because of its shock value and its profoundly concise statement. 

Its popularity spread to many other newspapers around the Colonies, including one in Boston that took the liberty to edit the caption to “UNITE AND CONQUER” It stimulated lots of discussion and culminated in the decision of the Congress of Albany, New York’s to pass a plan of unification. However, its success did not match its popularity; every other state rejected Albany’s plan. In the end, we remember this drawing for starting the trend of political cartoon.

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