On This Day tells me that on the 26th of January 1784 Benjamin Franklin expressed his unhappiness over the choice of the eagle as the symbol of America.
Benjamin Franklin expressed his dissatisfaction with the bald eagle as America’s national emblem primarily because he believed it did not accurately represent the values and character of the American people. In a letter to his daughter Sarah Bache in 1784, Franklin famously referred to the bald eagle as a “bird of bad moral character” because he observed that it often stole food from other birds rather than hunting for itself. He felt that this behavior was not a fitting representation of the American spirit.
Instead, Franklin preferred the turkey as a national symbol. He argued that the turkey was a more respectable bird, native to North America, and that it was a “much more respectable” choice. He saw the turkey as a brave and honorable creature, which he believed better embodied the qualities of the American people.
My dictionary tells me that turkey has a slang meaning of a play, film, etc. that is a complete failure, and that this is a North American term. So one wonders when this slang meaning became popular. It could explain why the bald eagle won the vote.
Franklin’s humorous and somewhat tongue-in-cheek critique of the bald eagle reflects his broader views on the importance of virtue and morality in the new republic. Ultimately, despite his objections, the bald eagle was chosen as the national emblem of the United States, and it remains a powerful symbol of American identity to this day.
At this point of writing a post I’m thinking about how I can create a link back to my website for the purpose of SEO (search engine optimisation). Sir Anthony Standen, although very widely travelled for his time, didn’t get anywhere near America. I tried a search using the terms “David West America” to see if I’d written a post about America before. I must have, surely? Apparently I’m quite good at basketball, yet I didn’t know. The closest I seem to have come is my post about the Lincoln play.