Pennsylvania Journal Newspaper with "Unite or Die" Image

Not on View

Philadelphia printer William Bradford used his weekly newspaper, The Pennsylvania Journal, to encourage resistance to British taxation and other measures that threatened American colonists' traditional English liberties. This issue of the Journal from January 1775 bears the image of a rattlesnake cut into pieces, each representing an American colony or colonies, with the words "Unite or Die." Fellow Philadelphia printer Benjamin Franklin first used the image of a disjointed snake to encourage colonial unity against France in 1754.

Object Details

Item/Title: Pennsylvania Journal Newspaper
Place: Philadelphia, PA
Date: January 18, 1775
Materials: Ink on Paper
Credit: Museum of the American Revolution, 2011.00.0003

A zoomed in look at the United or Die snake political cartoon at the top of the Pennsylvania Journal.

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