The Origin of UNCLE SAM
It was September 7, 1813, when the United States got its name, Uncle Sam. The name is connected to Samuel Wilson, a meat packer from Troy, New York. He provided barrels of beef to the United States Army throughout the War of 1812. Wilson (1766–1854) marked the barrels with “The U.S.” for the United States. However, officers started referring to the grub as “Uncle Sam’s.” The regional newspaper picked up on the story, and Uncle Sam eventually earned widespread recognition as the name and representation of the U.S. central government.
In the later part of the 1860s and 1870s, political illustration artist Thomas Nast (1840–1902) began promoting the image of Uncle Sam. Nast continued to develop the image, giving Sam the white facial hair and stars-and-stripes suit associated with him today. The German-born Nast was also responsible for creating the modern image of Santa Claus, as well as coming up with the donkey as a symbol for the Democratic Party and the elephant as a symbol for the Republican Party. Additionally, Nast was widely known for exposing the corruption of New York City’s Tammany Hall in his magazine sketches and was, to some degree, responsible for the downfall of Tammany leader William Tweed.
Perhaps the most famous image of Uncle Sam was created by artist James Montgomery Flagg (1877–1960). In Flagg’s version, Uncle Sam wears a tall formal hat and blue coat and gazes straight ahead at the viewer. During World War I, this image of Sam with the words “I Want You for the U.S. Army” was used as a recruiting poster. The image, which became hugely popular, was first used as the cover photo in July 1916 in Leslie’s Weekly with the caption “What Are You Doing for Preparedness?” The poster was widely distributed and has since been reused on numerous occasions with different captions.
In September 1961, the U.S. Congress recognized Samuel Wilson as “the forefather of America’s national symbol of Uncle Sam.” In 1854, at the age of 87, Wilson passed away and was buried beside his wife Betsey Mann in the Oakwood Graveyard in Troy, New York, the town that terms itself “The Home of Uncle Sam.”
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