Choosing a National seal

• In 1776, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and John Adams were appointed to be a committee to propose a national seal. The seal they proposed is the one above on the left:

Moses killing the Pharaoh as he attempts to pursue the Hebrews through the Red Sea.

• The proposed motto: "Rebellion to Tyrants is obedience to God." The implication is that if it was godly for Moses to kill a rotten king, then it is also godly for the Americans to abolish their rotten king.

• In other words, these men wanted to make the statement that the American Revolution was a Christian endeavor, supported by the Bible.

• The image on the right was the one proposed by Pierre Eugene du Simitiere, with the motto E Pluribus Unum: "In plurality, we are unified."

DECISION: You are a member of the Continental Congress. Which design do you vote for and why?

Get out a $1 bill to find out what was chosen. How did their choice of "Annuit Coeptis" bring some degree of compromise?

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