Nov 25, 2021 · There's 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...

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.

Nov 21, 2016 · 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...

Dec 23, 2022 · Benjamin Franklin wanted the turkey — not the bald eagle — to be on the Great Seal of the United States. Franklin opposed the bald eagle as a national symbol but never specifically...

Jan 25, 2013 · First up, the idea that Benjamin Franklin, in his infinite wisdom and wit, wanted the National Bird to be the turkey. According to the United States Diplomacy Center, this myth is...

Nov 21, 2016 · One of the most popular Thanksgiving-related myths in American history is the notion that Benjamin Franklin preferred the turkey as the national symbol of the United States, over the bald eagle.

Nov 28, 2024 · Contrary to legend, Benjamin Franklin did not call for the turkey to be the national bird. According to The Franklin Institute, Franklin wrote a letter saying the Great Seal of the United...

Nov 26, 2015 · But while turkeys clearly had one fan among the Founders, Benjamin Franklin, it appears that the birds weren’t close to challenging the eagle as the nation’s proud patriotic symbol.

In Benjamin Franklin’s famous letter he complained that people’s fondness for the eagle was misplaced and that the turkey was “a much more respectable Bird, and withal a true original Native of America...He is besides, though a little vain & silly, a Bird of Courage.”

Aug 1, 2023 · There is no record that Benjamin Franklin wanted the United States’ national bird to be the turkey rather than the bald eagle. However, he did make his feelings about each bird clear.

On January 26, 1784 Benjamin Franklin wrote a letter to his daughter explaining the reasons why he didn't like the fact that the American eagle was becoming a national symbol. But is it true that he suggested that turkey should be American's national symbol? Tap here to find out.

Did Benjamin Franklin want the Wild Turkey to be the national bird? Since Benjamin Franklin's suggested design for the seal didn't contain any birds, it is believed that he did not lobby for the Wild Turkey to be the national bird.

Oct 11, 2024 · There is no record that Benjamin Franklin wanted the United States’ national bird to be the turkey rather than the bald eagle. However, he did make his feelings about each bird clear.

Aug 15, 2017 · A year and a half later it had a major dissenter in Benjamin Franklin. Franklin saw the image of the bird on the badge of the Society of the Cincinnati of America, a military fraternity of revolutionary war officers, and thought the drawing of the bald eagle on the badge looked more like a turkey, a fair and reasonable complaint considering the ...

Sep 10, 2024 · A committee made up of Founding Fathers Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson was formed to help bring a national seal into fruition. Over the years, reports that Franklin wanted to put forward a turkey as the national bird instead of the bald eagle we know today have surfaced.

Nov 28, 2014 · Benjamin Franklin's preference for using the Turkey over the Bald Eagle on our Great Seal is a well known piece of American folklore - but is there any truth to the tale?

Nov 21, 2013 · The medals depicted a bald eagle that some people thought looked more like a turkey. The suggestion sent Franklin into a thorough drubbing of the eagle’s merits as a symbol.

Nov 27, 2019 · He did however admire the turkey. Here’s the backstory: In 1783, a year-and-half after Congress adopted the bald eagle as the symbol of America, Franklin saw the image of the bird on the badge of the Society of the Cincinnati of America, a …

Nov 24, 2023 · In that whimsical moment, Franklin envisioned a national emblem adorned not with the stern and majestic bald eagle, but with the turkey – a bird exuding character, charm, and a certain gobble-worthy charisma. He painted a picture of a turkey-clad banner, a symbol of year-round Thanksgiving-like unity, fluttering proudly above a burgeoning nation.

The eagle on the badge of the Society of the Cincinnati Medal looked more like a turkey, which prompted Franklin to compare the two birds as a symbol for the United States.

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