Join , or Die " Join , or Die " is a well - known political cartoon , created by Benjamin Franklin and first published in his " Pennsylvania Gazette " on May 9 , 1754 . The original publication by the Gazette is the earliest known pictorial representation of colonial union produced by a British colonist in America . It is a woodcut showing a snake cut into eighths , with each segment labeled with the initials of one of the thirteen American colonies or region . New England was represented as one segment , rather than the four colonies it was at that time . In addition , Delaware ( then a part of Pennsylvania ) and Georgia were omitted completely . Thus , it has 8 segments of snake rather than the traditional 13 colonies . The two northernmost British American colonies at the time , Nova Scotia and Newfoundland , were not represented , nor were any British Caribbean possessions . The cartoon appeared along with Franklin ' s editorial about the " disunited state " of the colonies , and helped make his point about the importance of colonial unity . During that era , there was a superstition that a snake which had been cut into pieces would come back to life if the pieces were put together before sunset . This cartoon was used in the French and Indian War to symbolize that the colonies needed to join together with England to defeat the French and Indians . It became a symbol of colonial freedom during the American Revolutionary War . Role during the Seven Years ' War . At that time , the colonists were divided on whether to fight the French and their Native - American allies for control of the land west of the Appalachian Mountains , in what came to be known as the French and Indian War . It became a symbol for the need of organized action against an outside threat posed by the French and Native - Americans in the mid 18th century . Writer Philip Davidson states that Franklin was a propagandist influential in seeing the potential in political cartoons . Franklin had proposed the Albany Plan and his cartoon suggested that such a union was necessary to avoid destruction . As Franklin wrote , Role prior to and during the American Revolution . Franklin ' s political cartoon took on a different meaning during the lead up to the American Revolution , especially around 1765 - 1766 , during the Stamp Act Congress . British colonists in America protesting British rule used the cartoon in the " Constitutional Courant " to help persuade the colonists . However , the Patriots , who associated the image with eternity , vigilance , and prudence , were not the only ones who saw a new interpretation of the cartoon . The Loyalists saw the cartoon with more biblical traditions , such as those of guile , deceit , and treachery . Franklin himself opposed the use of his cartoon at this time , but instead advocated a moderate political policy ; in 1766 , he published a new cartoon " " MAGNA Britannia : her Colonies REDUC ' D " " , where he warned against the danger of Britain losing her American colonies by means of the image of a female figure ( Britannia ) with her limbs cut off . Because of Franklin ' s initial cartoon , however , the " Courant " was thought of in England as one of the most radical publications . The difference between the use of " Join or Die " in 1754 and 1765 is that Franklin had designed it to unite the colonies for ' management of Indian relations ' and defense against France , but in 1765 American colonists used it to urge colonial unity against the British . Also during this time the phrase " join , or die " changed to " unite , or die , " in some states such as New York and Pennsylvania . Soon after the publication of the cartoon during the Stamp Act Congress , variations were printed in New York , Massachusetts , and a couple of months later it had spread to Virginia and South Carolina . In some states , such as New York and Pennsylvania , the cartoon continued to be published week after week for over a year . On July 7 , 1774 Paul Revere altered the cartoon to fit the masthead of the " Massachusetts Spy " . Legacy of the cartoon . The cartoon has been reprinted and redrawn widely throughout American history . Variants of the cartoon have different texts , e . g . " Unite or Dead " , and differently labeled segments , depending on the political bodies being appealed to . During the American Revolutionary War , the image became a potent symbol of Colonial unity and resistance to what was seen as British oppression . It returned to service , suitably redrawn , for both sides of the American Civil War .