Eagle Feathers #154 –The Passport

By Bob (Monty) Doherty

As far back as the biblical period of ancient Egypt and Rome, early passport systems were in vogue. It was a time when traveling out of one’s country was rare and dangerous. In Rome, official travelers carried a letter in the name of the emperor called a tractorium.

This official tablet would offer safe passage to the bearer into foreign lands. Over the centuries, this system of safe conduct passes or “passports” between countries improved communications immeasurably, helped avoid wars, and advanced international relations. Over time, the passport became a shield for the average person’s safe travel between countries. It was a gentleman’s agreement between nations.

In America, passports go back to the Revolutionary War. At first, they were issued by the Department of Foreign Affairs that later changed its name to the Department of State. Benjamin Franklin, who observes us from our $100 bill, invented bifocals, the Franklin Stove, and the lightning rod which protects our historic Somerville Powder House. This American statesman and prolific inventor also designed America’s first passport and printed it on his own press. It was a piece of one-sided paper impressed with the description of the person who bore it. The document requested safe passage from France to Holland and was issued for Continental Congressman Francis Dana from Charlestown, Massachusetts.

Today the standard United States passport has an American eagle embossed on the cover of its blue, twenty-eight page booklet. The eagle, facing the laurel branch it holds in its talons, denotes peace. Similar to Franklin’s original, today’s passport describes the bearer, but also describes America as who we are. Its inside cover honors the American flag that was flown in 1814. It was the battle-torn Star Spangled Banner that Francis Scott Key wrote about in his poem. The poem was written 38 years after America’s first flag was flown at Prospect Hill and became the words of our National Anthem.

America’s attractive passport briefly shows our history. It exhibits familiar images from the Liberty Bell and Old Ironsides to Mount Rushmore and the Statue of Liberty. It contains quotes from Presidents George Washington, Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Theodore Roosevelt, Lyndon B. Johnson, and author Anna Julia Cooper. Throughout its pages, it depicts landscapes across America from sea to sea. At the passport’s center is a two-page vista of an American Bald Eagle, the Rocky Mountains, and an American Bison. At the topmost of this scene is the quote, “We have a great dream. It started way back in 1776, and God grant that America will be true to her dream.” — Martin Luther King, Jr.