22. What species did Benjamin Franklin want as our national bird?
Correct: C’mon—it was a joke
Incorrect: Turkey
In a letter to his daughter in 1784, Benjamin Franklin spoke about the new American seal and the bird emblazoned on it. “For my own part I wish the Bald Eagle had not been chosen the Representative of our Country,” Franklin wrote. “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.”
Franklin had an alternate option instead: the turkey. “For the 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.” He was clearly joking.
