Uncle Sam (which has the same initials as ''

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

'') is a common national personification of the

federal government of the United States The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a fede ...

or the country in general. Since the early 19th century, Uncle Sam has been a popular symbol of the U.S. government in

American culture The culture of the United States of America is primarily of Western, and European origin, yet its influences includes the cultures of Asian American, African American, Latin American, and Native American peoples and their cultures. The U ...

and a manifestation of

patriotic Patriotism is the feeling of love, devotion, and sense of attachment to one's country. This attachment can be a combination of many different feelings, language relating to one's own homeland, including ethnic, cultural, political or histor ...

emotion. Uncle Sam has also developed notoriety for his appearance in military

propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded ...

, popularized by a famous 1917

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

recruiting poster by J.M. Flagg. According to legend, the character came into use during the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...

and may have been named for

Samuel Wilson Samuel Wilson (September 13, 1766 – July 31, 1854) was an American meat packer who lived in Troy, New York, whose name is purportedly the source of the personification of the United States known as "Uncle Sam". Biography Wilson was born in the ...

. The actual origin is obscure. The first reference to Uncle Sam in formal literature (as distinct from newspapers) was in the 1816

allegorical As a literary device or artistic form, an allegory is a narrative or visual representation in which a character, place, or event can be interpreted to represent a hidden meaning with moral or political significance. Authors have used allegory t ...

book ''

The Adventures of Uncle Sam, in Search After His Lost Honor ''The Adventures of Uncle Sam, in Search After his Lost Honor'' is an allegorical book published in 1816 written by Frederick Augustus Fidfaddy. The book was written in English and contains 162 pages. It was republished in 1971 by Liberty House, a ...

'' by Frederick Augustus Fidfaddy, Esq.pp. 40–41 of Albert Matthews, "Uncle Sam". ''Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society'', v.19, 1908. pp. 21–65
Google Books
While the figure of Uncle Sam specifically represents the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

, the female figure of Columbia represents the United States as a nation. An archaic character, Brother Jonathan, was known to represent the American populace.

Earlier personifications

The earliest known personification of the United States was as a woman named Columbia, who first appeared in 1738 ( pre-US) and sometimes was associated with another female personification, Lady Liberty. With the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

of 1775 came Brother Jonathan, a male personification. Uncle Sam finally appeared after the

. Columbia appeared with either Brother Jonathan or Uncle Sam, but her use declined as a national person in favor of Liberty, and she was effectively abandoned once she became the mascot of

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...

in the 1920s. A March 24, 1810, journal entry by Isaac Mayo (a midshipman in the

US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of ...

) states:

weighed anchor stood down the harbor, passed
Sandy Hook Sandy Hook is a barrier spit in Middletown Township, Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. The barrier spit, approximately in length and varying from wide, is located at the north end of the Jersey Shore. It encloses the southern ...
, where there are two light-houses, and put to sea, first and the second day out most deadly seasick, oh could I have got onshore in the hight 'sic''of it, I swear that uncle Sam, as they call him, would certainly forever have lost the services of at least one sailor.

Evolution

Uncle Sam Memorial Statue, Arlington, MA - Samuel Wilson

Uncle Sam's Thanksgiving Dinner (November 1869), by Thomas Nast

An 1810 edition of ''

Niles' Weekly Register The ''Weekly Register'' (also called the ''Niles Weekly Register'' and ''Niles' Register'') was a national magazine published in Baltimore, Maryland by Hezekiah Niles from 1811 to 1848. The most widely circulated magazine of its time, the ''Regis ...

'' has a footnote defining Uncle Sam as "a cant term in the

army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

for the

." Presumably, it came from the abbreviation of the United States: U.S.

Samuel Wilson legend

The precise origin of the Uncle Sam character is unclear, but a popular legend is that the name "Uncle Sam" was derived from

, a

meatpacker The meat-packing industry (also spelled meatpacking industry or meat packing industry) handles the slaughtering, processing, packaging, and distribution of meat from animals such as cattle, pigs, sheep and other livestock. Poultry is generally ...

from

Troy, New York Troy is a city in the U.S. state of New York and the county seat of Rensselaer County. The city is located on the western edge of Rensselaer County and on the eastern bank of the Hudson River. Troy has close ties to the nearby cities of Albany ...

, who supplied rations for American soldiers during the War of 1812. There was a requirement at the time for contractors to stamp their name and where the rations came from onto the food they were sending. Wilson's packages were labeled "E.A.—U.S." When someone asked what that stood for, a co-worker jokingly said, "Elbert Anderson he contractorand Uncle Sam," referring to Wilson, though the ''U.S.'' actually stood for "United States". Doubts have been raised as to the authenticity of this story, as the claim did not appear in print until 1842. Additionally, the earliest known mention definitely referring to the metaphorical Uncle Sam is from 1810, predating Wilson's contract with the government.

Development of the character

In 1835, Brother Jonathan made a reference to Uncle Sam, implying that they symbolized different things: Brother Jonathan was the country itself, while Uncle Sam was the government and its power. A

clockmaker A clockmaker is an artisan who makes and/or repairs clocks. Since almost all clocks are now factory-made, most modern clockmakers only repair clocks. Modern clockmakers may be employed by jewellers, antique shops, and places devoted strictly to ...

in an 1849 comedic novel explains "we call...the American public Uncle Sam, as you call the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

John Bull John Bull is a national personification of the United Kingdom in general and England in particular, especially in political cartoons and similar graphic works. He is usually depicted as a stout, middle-aged, country-dwelling, jolly and matter- ...

." By the 1850s, the names Brother Jonathan and Uncle Sam were being used nearly interchangeably, to the point that images of what had previously been called "Brother Jonathan" were being called "Uncle Sam". Similarly, the appearance of both personifications varied wildly. For example, one depiction of Uncle Sam in 1860 showed him looking like

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading inte ...

, while a contemporaneous depiction of Brother Jonathan looks more like the modern version of Uncle Sam, though without a

goatee A goatee is a style of facial hair incorporating hair on one's chin but not the cheeks. The exact nature of the style has varied according to time and culture. Description Until the late 20th century, the term ''goatee'' was used to refer sol ...

. An 1893 article in ''

The Lutheran Witness Concordia Publishing House (CPH), founded in 1869, is the official publishing arm of the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod (LCMS). Headquartered in St Louis, Missouri, at 3558 S. Jefferson Avenue, CPH publishes the synod's official monthly magaz ...

'' claims Uncle Sam was simply another name for Brother Jonathan:

When we meet him in politics we call him Uncle Sam; when we meet him in society we call him Brother Jonathan. Here of late Uncle Sam ''alias'' Brother Jonathan has been doing a powerful lot of complaining, hardly doing anything else.

Uncle Sam did not get a standard appearance, even with the effective abandonment of Brother Jonathan near the end of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

, until the well-known recruitment image of Uncle Sam was first created by

James Montgomery Flagg James Montgomery Flagg (June 18, 1877 – May 27, 1960) was an American artist, comics artist and illustrator. He worked in media ranging from fine art painting to cartooning, but is best remembered for his political posters, particularly his 1 ...

during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. The main belligerents included much of Europe and their colonial empires, the Russian Empire, the United States, ...

. The image was inspired by a British recruitment

poster A poster is a large sheet that is placed either on a public space to promote something or on a wall as decoration. Typically, posters include both typography, textual and graphic elements, although a poster may be either wholly graphical or w ...

showing Lord Kitchener in a similar pose. It is this image more than any other that has influenced the modern appearance of Uncle Sam: an elderly white man with white hair and a

, wearing a white

top hat A top hat (also called a high hat, a cylinder hat, or, informally, a topper) is a tall, flat-crowned hat for men traditionally associated with formal wear in Western dress codes, meaning white tie, morning dress, or frock coat. Traditionally m ...

with white stars on a blue band, a blue

tail coat A tailcoat is a knee-length coat characterised by a rear section of the skirt, known as the ''tails'', with the front of the skirt cut away. The tailcoat shares its historical origins in clothes cut for convenient horse riding in the Early Mode ...

, and red-and-white-striped trousers. Flagg's depiction of Uncle Sam was shown publicly for the first time, according to some, on the cover of the magazine ''

Leslie's Weekly ''Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper'', later renamed ''Leslie's Weekly'', was an American illustrated literary and news magazine founded in 1855 and published until 1922. It was one of several magazines started by publisher and illustrator Frank ...

'' on July 6, 1916, with the caption "What Are You Doing for Preparedness?" More than four million copies of this image were printed between 1917 and 1918. Flagg's image was also used extensively during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, during which the US was codenamed "Samland" by the German intelligence agency Abwehr. The term was central in the song "

The Yankee Doodle Boy "The Yankee Doodle Boy", also well known as "(I'm a) Yankee Doodle Dandy" is a patriotic song from the Broadway musical ''Little Johnny Jones'' written by George M. Cohan. The play opened at the Liberty Theater on November 7, 1904. The play conc ...

", which was featured in 1942 in the musical ''

Yankee Doodle Dandy ''Yankee Doodle Dandy'' is a 1942 American biographical musical film about George M. Cohan, known as "The Man Who Owned Broadway". It stars James Cagney, Joan Leslie, Walter Huston, and Richard Whorf, and features Irene Manning, George To ...

''. There are two memorials to Uncle Sam, both of which commemorate the life of Samuel Wilson: the

Uncle Sam Memorial Statue The Uncle Sam Memorial Statue is a statue commemorating Samuel Wilson, perhaps the original Uncle Sam, near his birthplace in the center of Arlington, Massachusetts, United States. It was sculpted by Theodore Cotillo Barbarossa. It is located ...

Arlington, Massachusetts Arlington is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts. The town is six miles (10 km) northwest of Boston, and its population was 46,308 at the 2020 census. History European colonists settled the Town of Arlington in 1635 as a village w ...

, his birthplace; and a memorial near his long-term residence in Riverfront Park,

. Wilson's boyhood home can still be visited in

Mason, New Hampshire Mason is a town in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 1,448 at the 2020 census. Mason, together with Wilton, is home to Russell-Abbott State Forest. History Mason was first known as "Number One", the easternmos ...

. Samuel Wilson died on July 31, 1854, aged 87, and is buried in Oakwood Cemetery, Troy, New York. In 1976, Uncle Sam was depicted in " Our Nation's 200th Birthday, The Telephone's 100th Birthday" by Stanley Meltzoff for

Bell System The Bell System was a system of telecommunication companies, led by the Bell Telephone Company and later by the American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T), that dominated the telephone services industry in North America for over one hundr ...

. In 1989, "Uncle Sam Day" became official. A Congressional joint resolution designated September 13, 1989, as "Uncle Sam Day", the birthday of

. In 2015, the family history company MyHeritage researched Uncle Sam's family tree and claims to have tracked down his living relatives.

References

External links

* ttp://www.sonofthesouth.net/uncle-sam/uncle-sam-pictures.htm Historical Uncle Sam pictures*
What's the origin of Uncle Sam?
The Straight Dope
Uncle Sam online
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