Summary of Jack E. Davis's The Bald Eagle

By IRB Media

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book.

#1 The position of national bird remains vacant. No president or Congress has ever signed a proclamation or passed a law to fill it. The bald eagle has falsely basked in the position of national bird since Congress affixed the bald eagle on the Great Seal of the United States in 1782.

#2 The bald eagle was chosen as the representative of America, and many of the American veterans who joined the Society of the Cincinnati rejected it. Franklin, however, was against it. He thought the eagle was a lazy, thieving bird that did not get its food honestly.

#3 Franklin’s criticism of the bald eagle was just a small part of the story in establishing the turkey as a founding bird. He never said in a letter or anywhere else that he preferred the turkey over the bald eagle.

#4 The American Revolution was the first time a country needed a seal to prove its legitimacy. The Americans flew their first flag, the Continental Colours, on New Year’s Day 1775, and put up a new rendition with thirteen red and white horizontal stripes and a blue canton with thirteen white stars in September 1777.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: Apr 7, 2022
• ISBN: 9781669383482

IRB Media

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Insights on Jack E. Davis's The Bald Eagle

Contents

Insights from Chapter 1

Insights from Chapter 2

Insights from Chapter 3

Insights from Chapter 4

Insights from Chapter 1

#1

The position of national bird remains vacant. No president or Congress has ever signed a proclamation or passed a law to fill it. The bald eagle has falsely basked in the position of national bird since Congress affixed the bald eagle on the Great Seal of the United States in 1782.

#2

The bald eagle was chosen as the representative of America, and many of the American veterans who joined the Society of the Cincinnati rejected it. Franklin, however, was against it. He thought the eagle was a lazy, thieving bird that did not get its food honestly.

#3

Franklin’s criticism of the bald eagle was just a small part of the story in establishing the turkey as a founding bird. He never said in a letter or anywhere else that he preferred the turkey over the bald eagle.

#4

The American Revolution was the first time a country needed a seal to prove its legitimacy. The Americans flew their first flag, the Continental Colours, on New Year’s Day 1775, and put up a new rendition with thirteen red and white horizontal stripes and a blue canton with thirteen white stars in September 1777.

#5

The American bald eagle is the national bird of the United States. It is also used as a symbol of sovereignty and nobility. birds do not organize their world the way we do, from the lowly to the kingly.

#6

The bald eagle was chosen as the national bird. It was not an obvious choice, as nothing was. The endeavor to design a seal that appealed to congressional members was not as arduous as winning the war, but it was still trying in its own way.

#7

The Declaration of Independence was written by Thomas Jefferson, and was approved by Congress on July 8. The seal committee, which consisted of Franklin and Jefferson, was tasked with designing a new seal for the country.

#8

Seals are works of art that display the ownership or authority of the person who created them. They are typically circular in shape, and they display a patterned shield with a supporter on each side. Mottos are often displayed on seals.

#9

The American eagle is not actually based on an ancient Roman bird, but it is still considered to be a Roman symbol. It has been used as both a single- and double-headed bird, and its wings have always been displayed spread and the talons open.

#10

The seal committee began by searching for ideas and inspiration. They hired Pierre Eugène du Simitière, a Swiss-born naturalized citizen who had come to Philadelphia by way of the West Indies and New York, to develop a seal for the United States.

#11

The three congressional delegates each worked on their own ideas for a seal. Adams suggested duplicating The Judgement of Hercules, by Simon