DON'T TREAD ON ME ICONIC CIVIL WAR ERA CONFEDERATE GADSDEN FLAG.
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Item Description
Despite its roots in America's founding father's interest in classical Liberalism, the Gadsden flag design has been utilized by a wide array of movements spanning the political spectrum. The common theme among all its many uses is an association with the basic ideas of liberty, individualism, and vigilance against tyranny. Christopher Gadsden, a South Carolina member of the Sons of Liberty who was present at the first two Continental Congresses, created the design for the first Continental Navy. He evokes Benjamin Franklin's 1754 political cartoon of a disjointed snake captioned "Join Or Die" calling for colonial unity against the British. Gadsden's conjoined and coiled rattle snake, a species known only to strike in self-defense, served as metaphor for unity between the colonies who were then poised to strike in the event of attack.
18x25". Glazed cotton. Threads of History plate #324 on p. 169. While Collins attributes this flag to the Copperhead movement c. 1864, we feel this is more likely an artifact of the American Confederacy. Copperhead was considered a disparaging term used by Republicans seeking to tar the Peace Democrats. This combined with the image of the timber rattlesnake coiled among foliage native to the southern United States and the fact that the Confederacy espoused the tactics of the American Revolutionaries in seceding from the Union declaring their independence from "Northern Aggressors", embodies a sense of the original spirit of the flag's design. Whatever the reality of this specimens' origins, it is of the Civil War era and among the earliest surviving depictions of this timeless image of American independence. This design rarely comes to market with the present example having been long ensconced as a cornerstone artifact in a private collection. An exceptional opportunity to obtain a truly iconic piece of American imagery.
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