Uncle Sam
Uncle Sam is a
national personification of the
United States dating from the
War of 1812. Common folklore holds that his origins trace back to soldiers stationed in upstate
New York, who would receive barrels of meat stamped with the initials U.S. The soldiers jokingly referred to it as the initials of the meat supplier, Uncle
Samuel Wilson, of
Troy, New York. The 87th United States Congress adopted the following resolution on September 15, 1961:
"Resolved by the Senate and the House of Representatives that the Congress salutes Uncle Sam Wilson of Troy, New York, as the progenitor of America's National symbol of Uncle Sam." A monument marks his birthplace in
Arlington, Massachusetts.
Encyclopedia
Uncle Sam is a
national personification of the
United States dating from the
War of 1812. Common folklore holds that his origins trace back to soldiers stationed in upstate
New York, who would receive barrels of meat stamped with the initials U.S. The soldiers jokingly referred to it as the initials of the meat supplier,
Uncle
Samuel Wilson, of
Troy, New York. The 87th United States Congress adopted the following resolution on September 15, 1961:
"Resolved by the Senate and the House of Representatives that the Congress salutes Uncle Sam Wilson of Troy, New York, as the progenitor of America's National symbol of Uncle Sam." A monument marks his birthplace in
Arlington, Massachusetts.
However, counter-arguments to this theory have been raised by some. One theory suggests that Uncle Sam was a creation by Irish immigrants to the US who used the
Gaelic acronym, SAM, or
Stáit Aontaithe Mheiriceá, which is the translation for United States of America, as a nickname for their new host country. Unfortunately, however, the precise origin of the term may never be proven.
Most earlier representative figures of the United States such as "
Brother Jonathan" were overtaken by Uncle Sam somewhere around the time of the
Civil War. The female personification "
Columbia" has seldom been seen since the
1920s.
Thomas Nast played an important role in creating the popular image of Uncle Sam in his post-Civil War era
editorial cartoons. After the
American Civil War, whiskers were added to Uncle Sam in reference to
Abraham Lincoln. Today, with the possible exception of the
Statue of Liberty, the character of Uncle Sam is probably the most easily recognizable personification of the U.S.
World War I poster
During
World War I, a very famous poster inspired by a British recruitment poster depicted Uncle Sam pointing at the people with the words
I WANT YOU FOR U.S. ARMY. The artist
James Montgomery Flagg, who painted the poster in 1917, used a modified version of his own face for Uncle Sam. Veteran Walter Botts posed for the drawing that became Uncle Sam. The poster was based on a 1914 recruitment poster from Britain featuring
Lord Kitchener, which was designed by
Alfred Leete.
The
poster has been repeatedly imitated , with many different variations on the simple slogan.
Other media
In addition to the appearance of Uncle Sam in politics, the character has also appeared as a comic book hero for both
Quality and
DC Comics. He is presented as the living embodiment of the United States and is the leader of the Freedom Fighters. See
Uncle Sam . There was also a short cartoon in the 1980s called "Uncle Sam's Adventures."
Furthermore, Uncle Sam appeared as a horror villain in the eponymously titled 1997 film,
Uncle Sam. In this film, several pseudo-patriotic elements are used, including Sam attacking people with "friendly fire" and eventually dying from two cannon blasts.
In music, the long-lived folk-rock group
Grateful Dead featured a skeletal Uncle Sam as one of the band's symbols. Uncle Sam, referred to in their song
United States Blues, is one of the many elements that compose the band's "American mythology".
Also, the logo of the
New York Yankees features Uncle Sam's hat covering the barrel of a red baseball bat.
See also
...
References
Popular works
- Fenster, Bob , They Did What!?, Andrews McMeel Publishing.
External links
- U.S. Library of Congress
- Historical
-
- The Straight Dope
