Franklin Facts

In a letter to his daughter in 1784, Benjamin Franklin criticized the Bald Eagle as a bird of 'bad moral character' and wrote that the Wild Turkey was 'a much more respectable Bird.' While he never actually proposed the turkey as the national symbol, his colorful comparison has fueled a popular myth ever since.

From 1784 to 1789, there was an unrecognized state in what is now the United States called Franklin. This breakaway territory in modern-day East Tennessee attempted to become the 14th state but failed, and the area eventually became part of Tennessee in 1796.