“Join, or Die”: The Binding of a Nation through the Evolution of a Symbol

This study of the Pre-Revolutionary War symbol, Join or Die, emerged from a Honors College Seminar of the study on the history of the emergence of public sphere and its effect on media. The American symbol “Join or Die” bound the colonies together politically and rhetorically, creating a new medium of discourse in the American public sphere. “Join or Die” alluded to a long history of metaphors of the body politic, but at the same time it transformed such metaphors in a more egalitarian direction. “Join or Die” precipitated a flood of political cartoons that formed an important part of political debates leading up to and during the early Revolution. We studied the continued allusions to the “Join or Die” symbol as well as transformations and re-interpretations of it. We also noted the continued deployment and re-interpretation of “Join or Die” in contemporary Tea Party demonstrations. Our study illuminates the power of visual print media to form a sphere for debate, whether or not the interpretation of those media remains constant. We suggest that the ability of visual media to offer multiple interpretations can in fact contribute to the vibrancy of public dialogue.