The Unlikely Story of How the Bald Eagle Became America's Symbol

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in Fort Worth, Texas. Up next, the story of how a bird Benjamin Franklin once said was of bad moral character ended up as our national symbol. Here to tell the story of the bald eagle is Jack E. Davis, a Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Bald Eagle: The Improbable Journey of America's Bird. You'll also be hearing from our Hillsdale intern.

Nate Gallagher. Let's get into the story.

So the bald eagle is truly an all-American bird. when you think about it. A bird that is charismatic in its behavior and its appearance. And so it was always a. A stunning sight when a bald eagle crossed the sky.

So, in 1776, within a few hours after Congress approved the Declaration of Independence. Congress organized a committee to devise or to create, design. a great seal of the United States. The three members of the committee were Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams. Stellar cast, right?

Really the Principal architects of American independence.

So you think it'd be no-brainer for them to come up with a seal that would be acceptable. They failed miserably.

Okay. The design proposed by these three American all-stars featured ladies liberty and justice flanking an all-seeing eye of God. Surrounding them in a ring were the initials of each state inside a small shield. Enclosed by liberty, justice, and the eye of God, was a shield with insignia from each of the six nations that, according to the artist of the seal Pierre-Eugène de Simetier, had peopled the colonies. Including insignia from other countries on your own national seal was a strange choice, and likely one of the many reasons Congress disapproved of the design.

The Congress immediately rejected their design, and another committee was formed, it failed, a third committee was formed, it failed. And finally, Charles Thompson, who was the Secretary of Congress, said, you know, we're about to go sign a peace treaty. We need a great seal to stamp on it.

So he came up with the design. He could look outside his windows in Philadelphia, where Congress held his sessions in those days, and see bald eagles. They were quite common around Philadelphia. Along the Delaware River, and they were practically an everyday sight. And he's the one who, we don't know why exactly.

He didn't leave a record why he chose the Bald Eagle. But he's the one who came up with the idea to put the bald eagle on the Great Seal of the United States. Congress loved it. The bald eagle. Has this distinctive look.

It's easy to capture its image. And as a bird that as a species that's endemic to North America. An image that really has the sense of power and strength behind it, it made sense that Americans would like it. But also, the bald eagle. In its life itself represents freedom and liberty and independence.

Those were. qualities that Americans associated Not just with their country, but with themselves, and so you have this free, independent bird of courage and strength, it was just ideal. Even though Americans love the bald eagle image early on. They loathe the species itself, the living bird behind it. They treated the bald eagle as a predator.

But they Were accused. There was this myth that they were a jeopardy to American husbandry, to farmers and to livestock farmers, and to people who raised chickens in their backyards. And so it was regarded as a civic duty to shoot and kill a bald eagle. and thousands of them were shot and killed throughout the 19th century.

So by the late 19th century, bald eagles had all but disappeared from the eastern seabird states. And then in 1945, DDT went on the open market. It was available to anybody to buy. It begins with the warborne development of DDT, this diabolical weapon of modern science saved millions of humans, but killed billions of insects. Man, with this newly discovered force, has at long last gained the upper hand in our age-old struggle.

We ended up blanketing the lower 48 states. To beat the bugs, if you will. We've beaten the Japanese, we've beaten the Germans, now it's time to beat the bugs. And so by the 1950s, bird populations, songbird populations, raptor populations were noticeably declining. And the bald eagle population reached this nadir In 1963, a census was conducted that year.

Of the bald eagle population across the lower 48 states, and there were fewer than 500 nesting pairs.

Now, let's put that in perspective. Congress adopted the Great Seal of the United States in 1782. The estimated bald eagle population. in North America was five hundred thousand. We redeemed ourselves later in the century by calling for its protection and.

In 1972, the Environmental Protection Agency banned the sale of DDT, but also Congress in that same year. Passed one of the most important conservation acts in U.S. history, and that was the Clean Water Act. Through the 1980s, 90s, and on into the 21st century, we brought All these bays and bayous and sounds and lakes and rivers that were on the On the verge of ecological collapse around the country, back to teeming love. And today The bald eagle population in North America is estimated to be 500,000.

the same as it was in 1782. And a terrific job on the production, editing, and storytelling by our own Nate Gallagher. And also a special thanks to Jackie Davis. He's a Pulitzer Prize winning author and the author of The Bald Eagle, The Improbable Journey of America's Bird. And my goodness, Jefferson, Adams, and Franklin couldn't get the deal done three times.

They were rejected by Congress with the seal of the United States, and it took Charles Thompson, the Secretary of Commerce, to get it done. But my goodness, we learned something special about this bird, both loved as a symbol, but hated as a predator. Thanks to the EPA, the Clean Water Act, and our own laws to protect this bird, we now have as many as when we had at our nation's founding. The story of America's symbol. The Bald Eagle here on Our American Stories.

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