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“Resolved, That Dr. Franklin, Mr. J. Adams and Mr. Jefferson, be a committee, to bring in a device for a seal for the United States of America.”
– July 4, 1776, Journals of Continental Congress
For the design team, Congress chose three of the five men who were on the committee that drafted the Declaration of Independence. Although these distinguished committee members were among the ablest minds in the new nation, they had little knowledge of heraldry. To help convey their vision, they chose the artist Pierre Eugène Du Simitière to work with them.
Skilled in portraiture and heraldry (the state seals of Delaware and New Jersey are his designs), Du Simitière was also an avid collector of all things American and founded the first history museum in the United States.
The four men consulted among themselves between July 4 and August 13, then each brought before the committee a suggestion for the design of the Great Seal.
Benjamin Franklin’s proposal is preserved in a note of his own handwriting:
This is what Franklin’s note says:
“Moses standing on the Shore, and extending his Hand over the Sea, thereby causing the same to overwhelm Pharaoh who is sitting in an open Chariot, a Crown on his Head and a Sword in his Hand. Rays from a Pillar of Fire in the Clouds reaching to Moses, to express that he acts by Command of the Deity.
“Motto, Rebellion to Tyrants is Obedience to God.”
In the thick of party conflict in 1800, Thomas Jefferson wrote in a private letter:
“I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man.”
It is unknown whether the motto of the proposed first seal of the United States originated from Benjamin Franklin or Thomas Jefferson. It is known that Thomas Jefferson used it as a motto in his personal seal.
