Soaring Free
By Emily E.
The Bald Eagle is something that many people don’t realize how much it means to our country, whether it be that they don’t know that it appears on many of our nation’s emblems, or that they don’t know that it is our national bird, or the fact of why it was simply chosen to be a part of our nation.
One of the most famous of our nation’s emblems, the Great Seal of the United States of America, pictures an eagle with arrows in one claw, olive branches in the other. In its beak, a red ribbon that flows along to either side of his majestic “bald” head, and on that ribbon, it is written “E Pluribus Unum” in regards to Thomas Jefferson. Finally, it wears a breastplate. On the top of that breastplate are the 13 original white stars on the blue background of our flag, and following that, on the bottom, are our 13 red and white stripes. Above the eagle is a flower with a blue center shape that depicts, again, our 13 original white stars. This is surrounded by gold, symbolizing sunlight, and then puffy white balls symbolizing clouds. Yet, this is only our Great Seal of the United States of America. There still are many other emblems that our nation has, and the eagle is pictured on many of them. On these emblems, he could be soaring gracefully and leisurely across the great expanses of the sky, or diving deep into the depths of a valley with the help of his strong pinions, or upper flight feathers, claws outstretched, waiting to capsize his prey.
The bald eagle is our national bird. It was chosen for this task June 20, 1782. But it was not until 1787 that it was officially chosen to be on our national emblem. Congress, including John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and some of the other founding fathers, chose the bald eagle because they live long, they are strong and powerful, and because it looks majestic and graceful. The specific words that were used were ‘supreme power and authority.’ One of the bald eagle’s competitors was the wild turkey. Benjamin Franklin was all for the wild turkey, but by the vote, that idea was cast out. The wild turkey had been considered because Benjamin Franklin thought that it was like Americans. To back up his idea, Ben used the way that turkeys protect their territory. He also considered the bald eagle to be ‘of bad moral character.’ Nonetheless, the bald eagle shows our freedom. The turkey had no way of doing so. Something else that was unique about the bald eagle that really drew the attention of many people was that it lived only in North America. Over time, the bald eagle has been flown overseas and down to lower countries and higher to upper countries, but originally it was found only in America. Thus, the reason that you might not have heard him referred to as the bald eagle, but the American eagle. This was a big factor in the way that Congress voted on the bald eagle, and it really helped it become one of our nation’s symbols. The eagle represents freedom as he does because he lives on the top of tall mountains in the huge expanse of the sky. He has the solitary grandeur of nature to comfort and guide him, and the way of space and solitude really give the bald eagle a sense of ownership and leadership. He has the most ultimate freedoms up there alone, and it does use them. Once, a bald eagle was even known to help soldiers. It was early in the morning at one of the less recent Revolutionary fights. The soldiers who were fighting at the time, made many sounds of a fight, with their loud cries of agony and accomplishment, and they woke the eagles that were resting above. The eagles circled the fighting men high above their heads squawking to the sound of gunfire. The motivation for the soldiers was in the fact that those eagles were ‘shrieking for freedom.’
When the bald eagle became the national bird, he was hunted to be pinned on walls. I mean, who doesn’t want the national bird on their wall? The past citizens had left us with a national bird, the bald eagle, that was on the endangered species list. This is surprising, because about 25,000 eagles were noted living in the lower 48 states. This shows how much the citizens loved the bird, and wanted to be able to show him off. Nonetheless, I am now happy to report that the eagle has been removed from that list, and we are finding them growing in population. We still find them in zoos, however, and I’m afraid that this will continue, because again, who doesn’t want the national bird in their zoo?
The eagle soars above our heads and may or may not shriek for freedom. Freedom the eagle is, and freedom he will stay. The bald eagle can show us what it really means to be free. Everyone always says ‘I believe I can fly,’ but nothing ever does happen. The Eagle flies. He braces himself from windstorms and rides the wind with ease. Soaring above the clouds and into the sun, he forever represents our freedom, soaring free of anything and everything. He gives us a symbol to hold onto with our freedom, and he does that in reaching our high standards. He meets America’s version of free. As we watch, he flies into the sunset and past all care in the world, free.
WORKS CITED
baldeagleinfo.com. “The Bald Eagle-An American Emblem.”
baldeagleinfo.com, 2012, Web. 11/1/12.
Eagle Facts. “Our Eagle.” Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, 2012,
Web. 11/4/12.
One of the most famous of our nation’s emblems, the Great Seal of the United States of America, pictures an eagle with arrows in one claw, olive branches in the other. In its beak, a red ribbon that flows along to either side of his majestic “bald” head, and on that ribbon, it is written “E Pluribus Unum” in regards to Thomas Jefferson. Finally, it wears a breastplate. On the top of that breastplate are the 13 original white stars on the blue background of our flag, and following that, on the bottom, are our 13 red and white stripes. Above the eagle is a flower with a blue center shape that depicts, again, our 13 original white stars. This is surrounded by gold, symbolizing sunlight, and then puffy white balls symbolizing clouds. Yet, this is only our Great Seal of the United States of America. There still are many other emblems that our nation has, and the eagle is pictured on many of them. On these emblems, he could be soaring gracefully and leisurely across the great expanses of the sky, or diving deep into the depths of a valley with the help of his strong pinions, or upper flight feathers, claws outstretched, waiting to capsize his prey.
The bald eagle is our national bird. It was chosen for this task June 20, 1782. But it was not until 1787 that it was officially chosen to be on our national emblem. Congress, including John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and some of the other founding fathers, chose the bald eagle because they live long, they are strong and powerful, and because it looks majestic and graceful. The specific words that were used were ‘supreme power and authority.’ One of the bald eagle’s competitors was the wild turkey. Benjamin Franklin was all for the wild turkey, but by the vote, that idea was cast out. The wild turkey had been considered because Benjamin Franklin thought that it was like Americans. To back up his idea, Ben used the way that turkeys protect their territory. He also considered the bald eagle to be ‘of bad moral character.’ Nonetheless, the bald eagle shows our freedom. The turkey had no way of doing so. Something else that was unique about the bald eagle that really drew the attention of many people was that it lived only in North America. Over time, the bald eagle has been flown overseas and down to lower countries and higher to upper countries, but originally it was found only in America. Thus, the reason that you might not have heard him referred to as the bald eagle, but the American eagle. This was a big factor in the way that Congress voted on the bald eagle, and it really helped it become one of our nation’s symbols. The eagle represents freedom as he does because he lives on the top of tall mountains in the huge expanse of the sky. He has the solitary grandeur of nature to comfort and guide him, and the way of space and solitude really give the bald eagle a sense of ownership and leadership. He has the most ultimate freedoms up there alone, and it does use them. Once, a bald eagle was even known to help soldiers. It was early in the morning at one of the less recent Revolutionary fights. The soldiers who were fighting at the time, made many sounds of a fight, with their loud cries of agony and accomplishment, and they woke the eagles that were resting above. The eagles circled the fighting men high above their heads squawking to the sound of gunfire. The motivation for the soldiers was in the fact that those eagles were ‘shrieking for freedom.’
When the bald eagle became the national bird, he was hunted to be pinned on walls. I mean, who doesn’t want the national bird on their wall? The past citizens had left us with a national bird, the bald eagle, that was on the endangered species list. This is surprising, because about 25,000 eagles were noted living in the lower 48 states. This shows how much the citizens loved the bird, and wanted to be able to show him off. Nonetheless, I am now happy to report that the eagle has been removed from that list, and we are finding them growing in population. We still find them in zoos, however, and I’m afraid that this will continue, because again, who doesn’t want the national bird in their zoo?
The eagle soars above our heads and may or may not shriek for freedom. Freedom the eagle is, and freedom he will stay. The bald eagle can show us what it really means to be free. Everyone always says ‘I believe I can fly,’ but nothing ever does happen. The Eagle flies. He braces himself from windstorms and rides the wind with ease. Soaring above the clouds and into the sun, he forever represents our freedom, soaring free of anything and everything. He gives us a symbol to hold onto with our freedom, and he does that in reaching our high standards. He meets America’s version of free. As we watch, he flies into the sunset and past all care in the world, free.
WORKS CITED
baldeagleinfo.com. “The Bald Eagle-An American Emblem.”
baldeagleinfo.com, 2012, Web. 11/1/12.
Eagle Facts. “Our Eagle.” Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, 2012,
Web. 11/4/12.