Franklin’s Two-Headed Snake: The July 13, 1787 North-South Divide and the Three-Fifths Compromise
“Join or Die” Becomes “Govern or Die” - July 13, 1787 was one of the most momentous days in American history. On this day, while the Constitutional Convention was in session in Philadelphia, the Confederation Congress in New York passed the Northwest Ordinance. The Ordinance banned slavery in the new territory, but codified a fugitive slave law, mollifying southern delegates.
On that same day, aware that the Ordinance was being passed in Congress, the Convention reached a breaking point over the future of slavery, the counting of slaves regarding congressional representation, and unresolved southern land title claims that extended all the way to the Mississippi River.
Ben Franklin helped break the deadlock by sharing an anecdote about a preserved two-headed snake that he owned. Franklin compared the Convention proceedings to a two-headed snake that couldn’t decide which side of a twig to proceed around, causing the snake to die of thirst. James Wilson captured this historic moment by sketching a two-headed snake, fittingly, biting the last word in a paragraph about conflicting land titles. The snake’s second head can be seen on the first coil of the snake. Formative pen strokes create a distinct jaw, snout, and eye of the second head. Franklin’s anecdote would not become known to the public until 1888, with the publication of the Cutler family papers in conjunction with the nation’s centennial celebration.
Franklin’s anecdote capped three days of intense deliberations over the Three-Fifths Compromise, setting the stage for the Great Compromise three days later.
