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On July 4, 1776, Benjamin Franklin and others were appointed to a committee to bring in a device for a seal for the United States of America. According to the U.S. Department of State, the process took 6 years, two more committees, and the combined efforts of 14 men before the Great Seal of the United States became a reality on June 20, 1782. A common myth associated with the creation of America's Great Seal, which features a bald eagle, is that Benjamin Franklin wanted the seal to have a turkey instead. According to the Franklin Institute, this is false. The claim stems from a letter Franklin wrote to his daughter, Sarah Bache, on Jan. 26, 1784. In that letter, he described his antipathy for the bald eagle and his affinity for the turkey: While this passage shows Franklin was not enthusiastic about the bald eagle on the Great Seal, it does not constitute an endorsement of a turkey in its stead. Several committees ended up being tasked with solving the seal problem, and Franklin was only part of the first committee. That committee's proposals did not include any bird at all: Because Franklin never officially advocated the turkey as a replacement for the bald eagle, the claim is False.
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