Affective Ecology Case Study: "Don't Tread on Me"

Reading through Jenny Edbaur's article. “Unframing” I was reminded of the famous Tea Party flag, “Don’t Tread on Me.”  I’ve done quite a bit of research on the Tea Party this semester.   I knew the “Don’t Tread on Me” flag was originally used during the American Revolution, but I didn’t know the exact context for its use.  Upon researching it, I found that the “Don’t Tread on Me” flag was used in three separate situations during the American Revolution.  First, it was the flag of the Culpeper Minutemen, an independent militia that fought on the side of the Patriots.  The “Don’t Tread on Me” flag was also called the Gadsden flag because it was designed by Christopher Gadsdsen one of the principle leaders of the Partriot movement in South Carolina.  Lastly, it was the first flag of the United States Navy, referred to as the US Navy Jack.  The symbolism of the rattle snake goes back to the French and Indian War when Benjamin Franklin drew a depiction of a snake severed eight ways with the phrase “Join, or Die” beneath it.  This cartoon was publish in an American newspaper to rally the colonies to unite.  The flag has since be re-purposed for the Tea Party movement.  Often waved by senior citizens dressed as the founding fathers at Tea Party rallies, the flag has come to represent the movements cause.  

To me, the history of the “Don’t Tread On Me” flag provides a perfect example of an affective ecology at work.  The flag transcends its original rhetorical situation.  Just like the “Keep Austin Weird” motto that Edbaur talks about, the visual and verbal rhetoric of the “Don’t Tread On Me” flag has been used as a response to multiple historical contexts. This is an example of how rhetoric acts outside of its initial audience, context and constraints.  The sentiment of “not being tread on” is one that has rung true throughout American history, making it a rhetorical response of not only those early Patriots, but the Tea Party “Patriots” of the present.