What Did Ben Franklin Want the National Bird to Be?

Benjamin Franklin wanted the turkey to be the national bird of the United States, and it’s commonly summarized as the answer to who wanted the turkey to be the national bird. That is the short answer, and it comes from a letter he wrote to his daughter Sarah Bache on January 26, 1784. But the full story is more nuanced than the version that gets passed around every Thanksgiving, so it is worth slowing down and looking at exactly what Franklin wrote, where you can find it, and what he was actually talking about.

Franklin's proposed bird: the turkey

In his 1784 letter to Sarah Bache, Franklin compared the bald eagle unfavorably to the wild turkey. He did not submit a formal proposal to Congress or write a policy document. What he did was criticize an emblem used by the Society of the Cincinnati, a fraternal order of Revolutionary War officers, and argue that the figure on their badge looked more like a turkey than an eagle anyway. He was not upset about this.

His exact words, as transcribed on Founders Online (the National Archives' digital archive of Founding-era documents), include this line: "I am on this account not displeased that the Figure is not known as a bald eagle, but looks more like a turkey." He followed that up with the passage most people remember: "For in Truth the Turkey is in Comparison a much more respectable Bird, and withal a true original Native of America."

The Library of Congress independently transcribed the same letter as part of its "Benjamin Franklin: In His Own Words" exhibit, and the wording matches. Both sources include the "Turk'y" spelling Franklin used, which is a useful detail when you are trying to confirm you are reading an authentic transcription rather than a paraphrase.

Where the letter comes from and how to verify it

The original document exists in multiple versions: an autograph letter draft, a transcript, and a press copy. Founders Online notes that there are discrepancies between these versions and flags the possibility that William Temple Franklin, Benjamin's grandson, may have altered parts of the text when he later published collected papers. This is worth knowing because it means the letter you read online may not be word-for-word identical to what Franklin actually put on paper.

There is also a detail that rarely makes it into popular retellings: according to reporting from Live Science, the Franklin Institute has called the "turkey as national bird" story a myth, partly on the grounds that Franklin apparently never sent this letter to his daughter. It was a private draft. So when people say Franklin "proposed" the turkey, they are technically describing a private opinion he expressed in an unsent letter, not an active political argument he made publicly. what is america's national holiday bird

Harvard's Declaration Resources Project frames it similarly, characterizing the national turkey story as a popular myth that circulates especially around Thanksgiving. The core claim (Franklin wrote favorably about the turkey and critically about the eagle) is real and documented. The framing that he formally lobbied for the turkey as a national symbol is not supported by the historical record.

To verify the original source yourself, here are the three best places to look:

1. Founders Online (founders.archives.gov): Search for "Franklin to Sarah Bache, 26 January 1784." You will find the full letter with editorial notes that flag version discrepancies. This is the National Archives' own digital archive and the most authoritative starting point.
2. Library of Congress exhibit transcript: The "Benjamin Franklin: In His Own Words" exhibit at loc.gov includes an independent transcription of the same passage, which lets you cross-check the key wording.
3. National Archives blog ("Talking Turkey" annotation): This annotation directly quotes the turkey/eagle passage and identifies where it sits within the broader Papers of Benjamin Franklin collection.

Why Franklin preferred the turkey: the symbolism behind his argument

Franklin's preference was not random. He built a case based on character and origins. In the same letter, he criticized the bald eagle as a bird of poor moral character, pointing out that it steals fish from other birds rather than hunting for itself. He described it as not "a proper emblem for the brave and honest Cincinnati of America." In other words, he thought the eagle's behavior set a bad example for a society meant to honor military virtue.

By contrast, Franklin described the turkey as a "true original Native of America," which mattered to him as a point of authenticity. The wild turkey was indigenous to North America in a way the bald eagle's symbolism was not. He also called the turkey a "much more respectable Bird," a phrase that sounds odd today but was a genuine claim about the turkey's independence and courage when confronted. Wild turkeys, unlike the scavenging eagle Franklin described, hold their ground.

His argument was rooted in the political and moral atmosphere of post-Revolutionary America, where debates about republican virtue were serious and ongoing. Franklin was 78 when he wrote this letter, and his criticism of the Cincinnati reflected a broader concern about aristocratic trappings in the new republic. The bird comparison was part of that larger argument, not a standalone ornithological opinion.

What the U.S. actually chose and when it became official

The bald eagle became associated with the United States long before Franklin wrote his letter. Congress adopted the Great Seal of the United States on June 20, 1782, depicting a bald eagle clutching an olive branch in one talon and a bundle of arrows in the other. That seal, and the eagle on it, became the dominant national emblem.

Here is something that surprises most people: the bald eagle was not officially designated as the national bird by law until December 2024. Public Law 118-206, signed by President Biden on December 24, 2024, formally amended Title 36 of the U.S. Code to make the designation statutory. Before that, the bald eagle's status as national bird was a matter of tradition and convention tied to the Great Seal, not a legal designation. The Congressional Research Service had noted this gap for years, observing that despite centuries of use, there was no law on the books making it official.

Franklin's letter, written in January 1784, came about two years after the Great Seal was adopted. By that point the eagle was already entrenched. His private criticism of it had no apparent effect on public policy, and there is no evidence it was part of any broader campaign to change the national symbol.

Franklin's bird vs. America's bird: a quick comparison

How to research national-bird claims without getting misled

The Franklin turkey story is a good example of how a real historical fact can get stretched into something slightly inaccurate through repeated retelling. Franklin did praise the turkey. He did criticize the eagle. But he did not formally propose a national bird, and the letter in question may not have even been sent. Knowing the difference between "Franklin wrote this privately" and "Franklin campaigned for this publicly" matters if you are trying to be accurate. what was the national bird before the bald eagle

When researching national bird histories for any country, the same principle applies: trace the claim back to a primary source before repeating it. Here are practical steps that work whether you are investigating the U.S. bald eagle, researching what came before it, or looking into the selection stories behind other nations' bird emblems.

1. Start with government or institutional archives. For U.S. history, Founders Online and the Library of Congress are the first stops. For other countries, national archives or parliamentary records are equivalent.
2. Check whether the source is a primary document (the actual letter, law, or decree) or a secondary summary. Summaries introduce errors. Always try to get to the original.
3. Look for editorial notes on primary documents. Founders Online, for example, includes notes about manuscript discrepancies and possible alterations. Those notes tell you how reliable the transcription is.
4. Check the Congressional Research Service (CRS) for U.S. legal designations. The CRS distinguishes between longstanding tradition and actual statutory designation, which is exactly the distinction that matters for the bald eagle story.
5. When a claim feels like a fun myth (such as a Founding Father secretly wanting a different national symbol), look for the Harvard, Smithsonian, or institutional fact-check. Organizations like Harvard's Declaration Resources Project and the Smithsonian have done the primary-source work and publish accessible summaries.
6. Cross-reference at least two independent transcriptions before quoting exact wording. The "Turk'y" vs "turkey" distinction in Franklin's letter is a small example of how wording varies across versions.

If you are exploring this topic as part of a broader interest in national bird histories, it connects naturally to questions about how the U.S. selection process worked, what symbolic criteria different nations use when choosing a bird emblem, and why the bald eagle's official legal status took until 2024 to be formalized. Those threads are worth following separately, because each one has its own set of primary sources and its own layer of myth that needs untangling.

The bottom line: Franklin wanted the turkey, said so privately in a 1784 letter, made a genuinely thoughtful argument for it rooted in American identity and republican virtue, and had absolutely no effect on the outcome. The bald eagle won in 1782 before Franklin put pen to paper, and it became the official national bird by law in December 2024. Both facts are worth knowing, and both are easy to verify if you go straight to the source.