The Great Seal Analysis

On the back of each dollar bill in circulation, the Great Seal of the United States appears. Made up of two symbols; one, an eagle clutching a scroll, olive branch, and arrows; the other, an unfinished pyramid with an all seeing eye. In Gordon Wood’s The American Revolution, he rhetorically asks, “how many Americans today know what the pyramid and eye on the Great Seal mean” (99). While most Americans today may look past these icons, both sides of the Great Seal signify the distinctly American thought of a constitution being a work in progress laid upon a strong foundation. The motto featured on the eagle’s scrolls states, E pluribus Unum, translated “out of many, one.” This view is a clear indication of the American colonists belief that a …show more content…
In addition to the difference over representation, American views of their constitutions diverged from her mother country in regard to the source of authority for a constitution, and whether a constitution should be written and fixed or whether it should be more fluid. In May of 1776 a congressional resolution officially “advising the colonies to adopt new governments under the authority of the people” (65). In the constitution making that followed in 1776 and 1777 states relied on the principle of popular sovereignty espoused by the colonists in the previous decade. In an effort to prevent future tyranny, American states forwent the English notion of a constitution, “the existing arrangement of government-that is, laws, customs, and institutions together with the principles they embodied,” in favor of “single written document… outlining the powers of government and specifying the rights of citizens” (66). In the new governments by the states, the most important layer became, just like in The Great Seal’s pyramid, not the top but the bottom. “By throwing off monarchy and becoming republicans in 1776, Americans offered a different concept of what people were like and new ways of organizing both the state and the society.” (93) With power held in the lowermost layer of society, there needed to be a way to ensure the power stayed in that location. To make this happen Americans adopted Montesquieu’s doctrine of separation of powers. Despite the separation of powers doctrine, most state constitution further felt the need to establish a weak executive. The purpose of this Gordon Wood argues is “to keep the judiciary and especially the legislature free from executive manipulation.” (68) ---- This was a radical shift in the responsibility of government, with a strong base of public power