In the 1700s and 1800s, people talked about Columbia and Brother Jonathan to give the United States a human face.
Columbia was the graceful woman who symbolized American liberty, democracy, and virtue, and Brother Jonathan personified the United States and the American “everyman” who emerged around the time of the Revolutionary War. After them came Uncle Sam.
Uncle Sam is the nickname of Samuel Wilson, a meatpacker who lived in Troy, New York, during the War of 1812, and supplied barrels of beef to the U.S. Army during the war with Great Britain.
Wilson stamped the barrels with “U.S.” for United States. But soldiers began referring to them as “Uncle Sam’s.” A Troy newspaper picked up the story, and Uncle Sam soon started getting famous.
In the 1870s, political cartoonist Thomas Nast began using the image of Uncle Sam, eventually giving Sam the white beard and stars-and-stripes suit.
After that, the most famous image of Uncle Sam, “What Are You Doing for Preparedness?” was created by James Montgomery Flagg, which first appeared on the cover of Leslie’s Weekly in July 1916.
Flagg’s poster was inspired by the original British Lord Kitchener poster, created three years earlier and used to recruit for the U.S. armed forces during both World War I and World War II. Flagg used a modified version of his own face for Uncle Sam.
Uncle Sam also started appearing in comics. He first appeared in National Comics in July 1940, which was published by Quality Comics, as a mystical being who was originally the spirit of a slain patriotic soldier from the American Revolutionary War and appears whenever his country needs him.
DC Comics acquired the character as part of its acquisition of the Quality characters in the 1950s, and he was used as a supporting character in Justice League of America in the 1970s
In September 1961, the U.S. Congress recognized Samuel Wilson as “the progenitor of America’s national symbol of Uncle Sam.”
Wilson died at age 87 in 1854 and was buried next to his wife in the Oakwood Cemetery in Troy, New York, the town that calls itself “The Home of Uncle Sam.”
Ask us! What questions do you have about content, strategy, pop culture, lifestyle, wellness, history or more? We may use your question in an upcoming article!
Like MediaFeed’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was syndicated by MediaFeed.co
