Wild turkey vs. bald eagle

Posted 8/21/12

RIVER VALLEY — Is the wild turkey more noble than the bald eagle? Ben Franklin thought so, or at least he expressed that view once in a letter to his daughter.

Franklin never publicly …

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Wild turkey vs. bald eagle

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RIVER VALLEY — Is the wild turkey more noble than the bald eagle? Ben Franklin thought so, or at least he expressed that view once in a letter to his daughter.

Franklin never publicly expressed the view that the wild turkey should have been selected as the symbol of the nation over the bald eagle, but in the letter he complained about the Society of the Cincinnati, a military fraternity which had been founded by officers of the Revolutionary War. The society had a bald eagle pictured on its badge, and Franklin referenced it in the letter, which was written in 1784, when Franklin was in France.

“Others object to the Bald Eagle, as looking too much like a Dindon, or Turkey. For my own part I wish the Bald Eagle had not been chosen the Representative of our Country. He is a Bird of bad moral Character. He does not get his Living honestly. You may have seen him perched on some dead Tree near the River, where, too lazy to fish for himself, he watches the Labour of the Fishing Hawk [osprey]; and when that diligent Bird has at length taken a Fish, and is bearing it to his Nest for the Support of his Mate and young Ones, the Bald Eagle pursues him and takes it from him.

“With all this Injustice, he is never in good Case but like those among Men who live by Sharping & Robbing he is generally poor and often very lousy. Besides he is a rank Coward: The little King Bird not bigger than a Sparrow attacks him boldly and drives him out of the District. He is therefore by no means a proper Emblem for the brave and honest Cincinnati of America who have driven all the King birds from our Country...

“I am on this account not displeased that the Figure is not known as a Bald Eagle, but looks more like a Turkey. For in Truth the Turkey is in Comparison 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, and would not hesitate to attack a Grenadier of the British Guards who should presume to invade his Farm Yard with a red Coat on.”

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