Benjamin Franklin first published the famous illustration in 1754 on the eve of the French and Indian War. Franklin was familiar with a French snake emblem as he called for colonists to unite for defense. Further, a widely held superstition in the British colonies was that a dismembered serpent would come back to life if the pieces were joined back together before sundown. This symbol especially resounded for Georgians early during the American Revolution. Georgians were outnumbered by the Cherokee and Creek tribes on the frontier and bordered the Loyal British Colony of East Florida, with a stronghold at St. Augustine. In Savannah, many feared giving up the protection of the British Crown and the security of trading rice and indigo within the British Empire. Peter and Lucy Tondee, who owned and operated Tondee’s Tavern and Long Room (located where the Coffee Fox stands in 2024), held gatherings of Savannahians willing to give up trade with the British in St. Augustine. The Tavern and Longroom could hold up to 150 people and became known as Georgia's "Cradle of Liberty." Yet, even the symbol of a rattlesnake was fiercely debated. Let us consider the controversial symbol and actions that occurred for unity in Savannah!
The worldview and language of most colonists of 1775 was shaped by the Bible. Many Tories (colonists loyal to the King) heard the Reverend Haddon Smith preach at the “Mother Church of Georgia” of Christ Church in Johnson Square.
In the Book of Genesis, Satan took on the form of a serpent when tempting Adam and Eve to disobey and thus rebel against God in the Garden of Eden.
Many Tories attacked the Patriot Cause as wicked traitors rebelling against their God-ordained King George. The first Tory mockery of Franklin’s cartoon appeared in Rivingston’s New York Gazetteer on August 25, 1774. Entitled, “On the SNAKE, depicted at the head of some American NEWS PAPERS,” the condemnation read:
YE Sons of Sedition, how comes it to pass,
That America’s typ’d by a SNAKE — in the grass?
Don’t you think ‘tis a scandalous, saucy reflection,
That merits the soundest, severest Correction,
NEW ENGLAND’s the HEAD, too; ——- NEW – ENGLAND’S abused;
For the Head of the Serpent we know should be BRUISED.
As part of the curse of sin, God placed a curse on the serpent. Genesis 3:15 reads, “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” This poem personified revolutionary America as Satan.
Many of those for American Liberty in Savannah heard Reverend Joachim Zubly preach for the congregation of Independent Presbyterian Church.
A rebuttal in a competing rhyme published in the Patriot newspaper, the New-York Journal, on September 1, 1774, read:
Ye Traitors! The Snake ye with Wonder behold,
Is not the Deceiver so famous of old;
Nor is it the Snake in the Grass that ye view,
Which would be a striking Resemblance of you,
Who aiming your Stings at your Country’s Heel,
Its Weight and Resentment to crush you should feel.
In the same issue of the New-York Journal, another Patriot article explained Franklin’s cartoon, “The Serpent has been from the earliest Ages, used as an Emblem of Wisdom,” and shared the words of Christ from Matthew 10:16, “Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.”
In Savannah, clashing convictions boiled over beyond words. Two months before the shot was fired heard round the world at Lexington and Concord, Savannah held not a Tea Party, but a Sugar Party. In February of 1775, eight hogsheads of molasses and six of French sugar had been seized by the royal customs collector for not paying import duties. The molasses and sugar had been found in the storeroom of Andrew Elton Wells, a fierce rebel and brother-in-law of Samuel Adams. However, at midnight, 20 Liberty Boys led by Joseph Rice, threw the two sailors guarding the property into the River and tarred and feathered the Customs Agent, Thomas Edgar. Despite being offered a handsome reward for information, no one in Savannah stepped forward and accepted the Royal Governor’s offer. Was this stand of solidarity against the offer done out of principle or fear?
Georgia did not participate in the First Continental Congress nor sent delegates to the Second Continental Congress at first. In May of 1775, Lyman Hall was admitted to the Second Continental Congress as a delegate of St. John’s Parish of Georgia. Mustering the unity needed to join other colonies proved daunting for the weak young colony of Georgia. In Savannah during the night after learning of Lexington, Patriots were determined to do more than talk. Liberty Boys removed roughly half of the 1,200 pounds of gunpowder from the Royal Magazine. Despite an even greater reward offered by Governor Wright for information, once again, no one stepped forward!
On the eve of the birthday of King George, June 4th, persons unknown spiked all 21 cannon (near where the Pirates’ House stands in 2024) and hurled them to the bottom of the bluff. When Governor Wright hosted a genteel dinner at the courthouse, the Liberty Boys could be seen raising a liberty pole and flag by the Governor. Cannon fire underscored 28 toasts delivered by this competing celebration by the Patriots, including, “Unanimity and Firmness to America.” The lines of division had been drawn.
In July of 1775, Reverend Smith refused to add July 20th as a day of fasting and prayer as proclaimed by the Continental Congress. He was delivered the following message from the Savannah Liberty Boys, “Sir from Your late Conduct in disobeying the Orders of the Congress, You are deemed an Enemy to America, & by Order of the Committee… you are to be Suffered no longer to Officiate in this Town.” The next evening, the Liberty Boys avenged themselves on a sailor who had drunk, “Damnation to America.” After tarring and feathering Sailor Hopkins near the sundial in Johnson Square, he was paraded for about town on a cart for three hours. After learning that the Liberty Boys intended to place Reverend Smith in the cart next to Hopkins, the Reverend fled to Tybee and sailed for England a month later.
After signing the Declaration of Independence, Benjamin Franklin supposedly said, “We must, indeed, all hang together or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately.” As Daniel P. Stone concludes his excellent article on the use of Franklin’s snake cartoon, the illustration became not just a call for colonial unity, but a holy embodiment of the American Revolution. Similar to Moses lifting the brazen serpent to the ancient Israelites for salvation from venomous snakes in the wilderness, so too did Patriots raise Franklin’s snake during the Revolution, calling for colonists to “JOIN, OR DIE.”
Although the British would take Savannah in 1778 as a springboard for their Southern Strategy, the Patriots would indeed see the dismembered serpent come back to life if joined together before sundown, when Lieutenant Colonel James Jackson would receive the surrender of Savannah by the British in July of 1782. This crucial act occurred before the War ended by the Treaty of Paris in April of 1783. This made sure that Savannah, Georgia would be part of a free and independent United States of America.
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