What the Wit Wanted
What the Wit Wanted
Founding Father Benjamin Franklin
A stout wit with more than one chin
As our national symbol, he wanted the turkey
For he had yet to taste Native jerky
*Written January 22, 2019
For Andrea’s Educate Me with Humor - Leader Clerihew challenge
For enlightenment, I learned this:
Some say Native Americans made the first jerky (buffalo jerky) thousands of years ago, while others say an ancient Inca tribe called the Quechua made jerky as early as the 1500s.
Also, in the play "1776," there is a song called "The Egg." When Ben Franklin wants to make the turkey our national emblem, Thomas Jefferson suggests the dove to represent peace. Both men’s ideas are shot down when a more demanding John Adams suggests the eagle for its strength.
There is some contention surrounding Franklin's choice. In a 1784 letter to his daughter, however, Franklin explained that the bald eagle had a “bad moral character” and was a “rank coward” that merely steals from other birds.
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