billy craven
'Join, Or Die' T-Shirt
I took liberties with an old design originally created by Benjamin Franklin [c. 1754] titled 'Join, Or Die' for an upcoming t-shirt/print show at Fugscreen Studios [July 8th].
Fugscreen Studios
1736 N. Ashland Ave
Chicago, IL
More info: www.facebook.com/home.php#!/event.php?eid=209776239053545
"...'Join, or Die' is a well-known political cartoon, created by Ben Franklin and first published in his Pennsylvania Gazette in 1754. The original publication by the Gazette is the earliest known pictorial representation of colonial union produced by a British colonist in America. It is a woodcut showing a snake severed into eighths, with each segment labeled with the initials of a British American colony or region. New England was represented as one segment, rather than the four colonies it was at that time. In addition, Delaware and Georgia were omitted completely. Thus, it has 8 segments of snake rather than the traditional 13 colonies. The cartoon appeared along with Franklin's editorial about the "disunited state" of the colonies, and helped make his point about the importance of colonial unity. During that era, there was a superstition that a snake which had been cut into pieces would come back to life if the pieces were put together before sunset. It is also noted that the snake [a rattlesnake] was chosen because it is native to the America's & by nature, does not strike unless provoked..."
'Join, Or Die' T-Shirt
I took liberties with an old design originally created by Benjamin Franklin [c. 1754] titled 'Join, Or Die' for an upcoming t-shirt/print show at Fugscreen Studios [July 8th].
Fugscreen Studios
1736 N. Ashland Ave
Chicago, IL
More info: www.facebook.com/home.php#!/event.php?eid=209776239053545
"...'Join, or Die' is a well-known political cartoon, created by Ben Franklin and first published in his Pennsylvania Gazette in 1754. The original publication by the Gazette is the earliest known pictorial representation of colonial union produced by a British colonist in America. It is a woodcut showing a snake severed into eighths, with each segment labeled with the initials of a British American colony or region. New England was represented as one segment, rather than the four colonies it was at that time. In addition, Delaware and Georgia were omitted completely. Thus, it has 8 segments of snake rather than the traditional 13 colonies. The cartoon appeared along with Franklin's editorial about the "disunited state" of the colonies, and helped make his point about the importance of colonial unity. During that era, there was a superstition that a snake which had been cut into pieces would come back to life if the pieces were put together before sunset. It is also noted that the snake [a rattlesnake] was chosen because it is native to the America's & by nature, does not strike unless provoked..."