Thread by @Gunntwitt

We ARE NOT conceding the Gadsden Flag to these new breed of communists. If you're an American, this is a hill worth dying on. Let's understand the history of the Gadsden Flag. (A definitive thread.)

This beautiful flag is named after American General and politician Christopher Gadsden (1724-1805)

In the fall 1775 the Continental Navy was established by George Washington and he named Esek Hopkins as Commodore of the Navy.

The 2nd Continental Congress authorized the mustering of 5 companies of Marines to accompany the Navy on their first mission.

Before the departure of that first mission in December 1775, Hopkins received the flag from Gadsden & the iconic flag was born.

But use of the American Timber Rattlesnake goes back to the publications a Benjamin Franklin.

In 1751 Ben Franklin made the 1st reference to the rattlesnake in the Pennsylvania Gazette. Interestingly enough, immigration (of a sort) was at issue.

The British were sending convicted criminals to the Americas; Franklin suggested we "thank" them by sending rattlesnakes to England.

During the French & Indian War (1754) Ben Franklin published his famous woodcut of a snake cut into 8 sections, representing the colonies.

Notice Ben Franklin's New England is represented by the head & neck and South Carolina was the tail; following the order along the coast...

This was the VERY FIRST political cartoon ever printed in an American newspaper - May 9, 1754.

Our 1st Marines enlisted in Philadelphia & carried drums painted yellow with a coiled rattlesnake w 13 rattles & the motto "don't tread on me"
It's the first recorded mention of the future Gadsten flag symbolism.