Chapter I: The First Device

Late in the afternoon of July 4, 1776, the Continental Congress “_Resolved_, That Dr. Franklin, Mr. J. Adams and Mr. Jefferson be a committee to prepare a device for a Seal of the United States of America,”[1] this being the same committee, except for the omission from it of Robert R. Livingston and Roger Sherman, which had drawn up the Declaration of Independence. The Declaration had been signed about 2 o’clock in the afternoon, and the members of the Congress assembling after dinner[2] desired to complete the evidences of the independence of the United States by formally adopting an official sign of sovereignty and a national coat of arms. It was intended that the device for the seal should be the device for the national arms, and the first and each succeeding committee having the business in charge construed its duty to be to devise the arms by devising the seal. In making the two identical the prevailing custom was observed, for seals are deemed proof of the coats of arms of the states or individuals using them. The great seal of France at the time the Declaration of Independence was signed contained as the obverse the arms of France, and upon the silver box containing the great seal of England when it was attached to a treaty was engraved the arms of England.[3] The great seal of England was itself, however, an exception to the general rule, as it did not at that time, nor for many years later, contain the arms of the Kingdom; but on the obverse the figure of the King on horseback and on the reverse of the King seated on the throne.[4]

The committee to design the arms of the new nation had no national precedent to follow, for the arms of a kingdom are nearly always those of the sovereign or his family, and the new Republic could accept no individual’s arms. The several colonies, however, each had a seal, and these, as they were generally significant and simple, would have been a fair guide to the exigencies of a national seal. The members of the committee, however, had an idea that an allegorical picture significant of the fortunes and destiny of the United States would be more appropriate; but as none of them could draw they called into consultation Eugène Pierre Du Simitière, a West Indian Frenchman who lived in Philadelphia and had a reputation as an artist and author. John Adams, in a letter to his wife, August 14, 1776, told the story of the committee’s efforts to make the seal:

[Du Simitière is] a painter by profession, whose designs are very
ingenious, and his drawings well executed. He has been applied to for
his advice. I waited on him yesterday, and saw his sketches. * * * For
the seal he proposes the arms of the several nations from whence
America has been peopled, as English, Scotch, Irish, Dutch, German,
etc., each in a shield. On one side of them, Liberty with her pileus,
on the other, a rifler in his uniform, with his rifle-gun in one hand
and his tomahawk in the other; this dress and these troops with this
kind of armor being peculiar to America, unless the dress was known to
the Romans. * * * Dr. F. proposes a device for a seal: Moses lifting
up his wand and dividing the Red Sea, and Pharaoh in his chariot
overwhelmed with the waters. This motto, “Rebellion to tyrants is
obedience to God.”

Mr. Jefferson proposed the children of Israel in the wilderness, led
by a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night; on the other side,
Hengist and Horsa, the Saxon chiefs from whom we claim the honor of
being descended, and whose political principles and form of government
we have assumed. I proposed the choice of Hercules, as engraved by
Gribelin, in some editions of Lord Shaftesbury’s works. The hero
resting on his club. Virtue pointing to her rugged mountain on one
hand, and persuading him to ascend. Sloth, glancing at her flowery
paths of pleasure, wantonly reclining on the ground, displaying the
charms both of her eloquence and person, to seduce him into vice. But
this is too complicated a group for a seal or a medal, and it is not
original.[5]

Adams’s statement is corroborated by the notes preserved by Jefferson and now among his papers in the Library of Congress. Franklin’s note reads:

Moses standing on the Shore, and extending his Hand over the Sea,
thereby causing the same to overwhelm Pharoah 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.

Jefferson’s note says:

Pharoah sitting in an open chariot, a crown on his head and a sword in
his hand passing thro’ the divided waters of the Red Sea in pursuit of
the Israelites: rays from a pillar of fire in the cloud, expressive of
the divine presence and command, reaching to Moses who stands on the
shore and, extending his hand over the sea, causes it to over whelm
Pharoah.

Motto Rebellion to tyrants is obed^{ce}. to god.[6]

Adams’s own design was, as he says, that of the engraving by Gribelin, Paulo de Mathæis, artist, which appeared as frontispiece to the Earl of Shaftesbury’s Treatise VII, Vol. III, edition of 1773, on the Characteristics of Men, Manners, Opinions, and Times.[7] It is a fine allegorical picture and Adams gives a good description of it in his letter, but it is wholly unsuited to a coat of arms. In this respect, however, the pictures suggested by Franklin and Jefferson were no better. In Du Simitière’s final design, which was the best of the four, the Goddess of Justice was substituted for the American rifleman as the sinister supporter, and Franklin’s suggestion was accepted for the reverse.

The committee reported August 20:[8]

The great Seal should on one side have the Arms of the United States
of America which arms should be as follows: The Shield has six
Quarters,[9] parti one, coupé two. The 1^{st}. Or, a Rose enamelled
gules & argent for England: the 2^d. Argent, a Thistle proper for
Scotland: the 3^d. Verd, a Harp Or, for Ireland: the 4^{th}. Azure a
Flower de Luce Or for France: the 5^{th}. Or the Imperial Eagle Sable
for Germany: and the 6^{th}. Or the Belgic Lion Gules for Holland,
pointing out the Countries from which these States have been peopled.
The Shield within a Border Gules entoire of thirteen Scutcheons Argent
linked together by a Chain Or, each charged with initial Letters Sable
as follows: 1^{st}. N. H. 2^d. M. B. 3^d. R. I. 4^{th}. C. 5^{th}. N.
Y. 6^{th}. N. J. 7^{th}. P. 8^{th}. D. C.[10] 9^{th}. M. 10^{th}. V.
11^{th}. N. C. 12^{th}. S. C. 13^{th}. G. for each of the thirteen
independent States of America.

Supporters, dexter the Goddess Liberty in a corselet of armour
alluding to the present Times, holding in her right Hand the Spear and
Cap and with her left supporting the Shield of the States; sinister,
the Goddess Justice bearing a Sword in her right hand, and in her left
a Balance.

Crest The Eye of Providence in a radiant Triangle whose Glory extends
over the Shield and beyond the Figures.

Motto E PLURIBUS UNUM.

Legend, round the whole atchievement. Seal of the United States of
America MDCCLXXVI.

On the other side of the said Great Seal should be the following
Device. Pharaoh sitting in an open Chariot, a Crown on his head and a
Sword in his hand passing through the divided Waters of the Red Sea in
pursuit of the Israelites; Rays from a pillar of Fire in the Cloud,
expressive of the divine Presence and Command, beaming on Moses who
stands on the Shore and extending his hand over the Sea causes it to
overwhelm Pharaoh.

Motto Rebellion to Tyrants is Obedience to God.[11]

This is endorsed, “Copy of a Report made Aug. 10, 1776,” and is in the handwriting of no member of the committee, but of James Lovell.

The description of the arms by Du Simitière is among the Jefferson Papers in the Library of Congress, and shows a design identical with that approved by the committee, except as to the supporters, Du Simitière’s description being:

Supporters, dexter, the Goddess Liberty, in a corslet of armour,
(alluding to the present times) holding in her right hand the Spear
and Cap, resting with her left on an anchor, emblem of Hope. Senester,
an american Soldier, compleatly accoutred in his hunting shirt and
trousers, with his tomahawk, powder horn, pouch &c. holding with his
left hand his rifle gun rested, and the Shield of the States with his
right.

Reverse

[Drawing by Benson J. Lossing from the description]
]

Obverse

[The pencil sketch by Du Simitière, found in the Jefferson Papers]

THE FIRST DESIGN

Face p. 12
]

A note following the report says: “The figure of Liberty standing on a Column, on which are the emblems of commerce, agriculture and arms.”

Two features alone of the designs of this committee were preserved in the final seal, the eye of Providence, which figured in the final reverse, and the motto “E pluribus unum,” which appeared in the final obverse. The eye was an adoption of a very ancient symbol of the overseeing God. It was probably suggested by Du Simitière himself, since Adams does not mention it as having been proposed by any member of the committee.

The motto formed a part of Du Simitière’s design, but has been generally attributed to Jefferson.[12] Adams’s letter shows nothing to suggest the possibility that he himself chose the motto; on the contrary, his mind was full of a moral rather than a political allegory for the arms. Jefferson’s mind had, on the other hand, already been engaged on the subject of a suitable device for a seal to express the idea of weakness in separation of the States and power in their combination. In 1774 he made this note in his almanac:

A proper device (instead of arms) for the American states united would
be the Father presenting the bundle of rods to his sons.

The motto “Insuperabiles si inseperabiles” an answer given in
parl[iament] to the H[ouse] of Lds, & comm[ons].[13]

Jefferson’s preference for a “device” rather than a coat of arms was due to the fact that he thought more allegorical meaning could be obtained by using the former. The idea he wished to convey was from one of Æsop’s fables. A father called his family of discordant sons about him, and taking a bundle of rods bound compactly together bade each one try to break it, which none could do. He then gave each one a single rod from the bundle and they were broken easily.

The motto “E pluribus unum”[14] was in familiar use in the United States and naturally suggested itself as a fitting description of the union of the States depicted in Du Simitière’s design.

Franklin suggested the motto “Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God,” which, as we have seen, was incorporated in the proposed reverse of the seal. It so much pleased Jefferson that he took it as his own motto, and had it cut upon his private seal. It was current in the colonies as part of a fictitious epitaph over the body of John Bradshaw, president of the court which condemned Charles I to death.

Thomas Hollis, of England, born in London in 1720, and one of the early patrons of Harvard College, in his memoirs, states:[15]

The following Epitaph is often seen pasted up in the houses in North
America. It throws some light upon the principles of the people, and
may in some measure account for the asperity of the war carrying on
against them. The original is engraved upon a cannon at the summit of
a steep hill near Martha Bray [Bay] in Jamaica:

STRANGER

Ere thou pass, contemplate this cannon,
Nor regardless be told
That near its base lies deposited the dust
Of JOHN BRADSHAW;
Who, nobly superior to selfish regards,
Despising alike the pageantry of courtly splendor,
The blast of calumny,
And the terrors of royal vengeance,
Presided in the illustrious band of Heroes and Patriots,
Who fairly and openly adjudged
CHARLES STUARD
Tyrant of England
To a public and exemplary death;
Thereby presenting to the amazed world,
And transmitting down through applauding ages,
The most glorious example
Of unshaken virtue,
Love of Freedom,
And impartial justice,
Ever exhibited on the blood-stained theater
Of human actions.
Oh, Reader,
Pass not on, till thou hast blest his memory!
And never, never forget,
That REBELLION TO TYRANTS
IS OBEDIENCE TO GOD.

A copy of this supposititious epitaph, in Jefferson’s handwriting, was given to his young friend, De Lyon, one of the Frenchmen who was with Lafayette on his tour of America in 1824. The manuscript was dated 1776, and stated that the inscription had been found three years earlier on the cannon at Martha Bay, Jamaica. A note, evidently by Mr. Jefferson himself, his biographer states, says:

From many circumstances there is reason to believe there does not
exist any such inscription as the above, and that it was written by
Dr. Franklin, in whose hands it was first seen.[16]

Although Du Simitière, as it would appear from John Adams’s letter, drew his designs for the committee, they were not preserved among the papers of Congress, a very slight pencil sketch of his proposed obverse found among Jefferson’s papers being all that remains. The committee’s report was laid upon the table, and for nearly four years the United States existed without a coat of arms and Congress did business without an official seal.