TY Anons.
In the story of America's Great Seal, a particularly relevant chapter is the imagery suggested by Benjamin Franklin in August 1776. He chose the dramatic historical scene described in Exodus, where people confronted a tyrant in order to gain their freedom.
Jefferson's edit of Franklin's design was recommended by the first committee for the reverse side of the Great Seal:
"Pharaoh sitting in an open Chariot, a Crown on his head and a Sword in his hand, passing through the divided Waters of the Red Sea in Pursuit of the Israelites: Rays from a Pillar of Fire in the Cloud, expressive of the divine Presence and Command, beaming on Moses who stands on the shore and extending his hand over the Sea causes it to overwhelm Pharaoh. Motto: Rebellion to Tyrants is Obedience to God."
Again, no sketch was made of their design. The above drawing was made by Benson J. Lossing for Harper's New Monthly Magazine in July 1856. (Lossing did not include a design element specified: "Rays from a Pillar of Fire in the Clouds reaching to Moses.")
Note: Jefferson's suggestion for the Great Seal was the children of Israel in the wilderness, led by a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.
[Quotation on the Jefferson Memorial] Jefferson liked the motto "Rebellion to Tyrants is Obedience to God" so much that he used it on his personal seal. Also, it seems to have inspired the upper motto Charles Thomson suggested for the final design of the reverse side of the Great Seal: Annuit Coeptis (God has favored our undertakings).
https://www.greatseal.com/committees/firstcomm/reverse.html
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On July 4, 1776, Franklin, John Adams, and Jefferson were named as a committee to suggest a seal. Each man proposed designs, and one of Jefferson’s closely resembled Franklin’s. In addition the painter Pierre Du Simitière, who had been called in as a consultant, produced a version of his own. A letter from John Adams of August 14 described the various proposals;5 hence Franklin’s had been submitted by that time. On the 20th the committee brought in its report; one side of the seal, with the motto E Pluribus Unum,6 was substantially what Du Simitière had suggested, and the other what Franklin and Jefferson had agreed upon. Congress tabled the report, and not until 1782 was the present seal adopted.7 All that it retained of the first committee’s handiwork was the Latin motto.
https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Franklin/01-22-02-0330