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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 political 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.
I Want YOU for the Army
During World War I a very famous poster inspired by a British recruitment poster depicted Uncle Sam pointing at the viewer with the words "I WANT YOU". 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 (and parodied), 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 Charlton 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 (comics). 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 (Yankees ny1.jpg) features Uncle Sam's hat covering the barrel of a red baseball bat.
See also
- National personification
- Samuel Wilson
- Yankee Doodle
- Brother Jonathan
- Marianne
- Germania
- Deutscher Michel
- John Bull
- Mother Svea
References
Popular works
- Fenster, Bob (2003), They Did What!?, Andrews McMeel Publishing. (ISBN 0740737937)
External links
- "The Most Famous Poster," U.S. Library of Congress
- Historical Uncle Sam Pictures
- James Montgomery Flagg's 1917 "I Want You" Poster and other works (Internet Archive copy from 2004 October 28)
- What's the origin of Uncle Sam? The Straight Dope
American culture | National emblems of the United States | National personifications
Uncle Sam | Uncle Sam | Tío Sam | Uncle Sam | Oncle Sam | Paman Sam | הדוד סם | Uncle Sam | Uncle Sam | アンクル・サム | Wuj Sam | Tio Sam | Дядя Сэм | Setä Samuli | Uncle Sam | Chú Sam | 山姆大叔
"Uncle Sam"