Uncle Sam
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Uncle Sam is a national personification of the United States and sometimes more specifically of the American government, with the first usage of the term dating from the War of 1812 and the first illustration dating from 1852. He is depicted as a serious elderly white man with white hair and a goatee beard, and dressed in clothing that recalls the design elements of flag of the United States—for example, typically a top hat with red and white stripes and white stars on a blue band, and red and white striped trousers.
Introduction
It has been argued by historian Glen Clever that the image of Uncle Sam was influenced by or even based on the character Sam Slick, created by Canadian satirist Thomas Chandler Haliburton.[citation needed]
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." Monuments mark his birthplace in Arlington, Massachusetts, and site of burial in Oakwood Cemetery, Troy, New York. Another sign marks "The boyhood home of Uncle Sam" outside his second home in Mason, NH. The first use of the term in literature is seen in an 1816 allegorical book, The Adventures of Uncle Sam in Search After His Lost Honor by Frederick Augustus Fidfaddy, Esq., also in reference to the aforementioned Samuel Wilson.
Earlier representative figures of the United States included such beings as "Brother Jonathan," used by Punch magazine. These were overtaken by Uncle Sam somewhere around the time of the Civil War. The female personification "Columbia" has seldom been seen since the 1920s. The well-known "recruitment" image of Uncle Sam was created by James Montgomery Flagg, an illustrator and portrait artist best known for commercial art. The image of Uncle Sam was shown publicly for the first time, according to some, in a picture by Flagg on the cover of the magazine Leslie's Weekly, on July 6, 1916, with the caption "What Are You Doing for Preparedness?" [1][2] More than four million copies of this image were printed between 1917 and 1918. The image also was used extensively during World War II.
Origin
The American icon Uncle Sam was in fact based on a real man, albeit a rather short, pudgy, beardless one.
A businessman from Troy, New York, Samuel Wilson, provided the army with beef in barrels during the War of 1812. The barrels were prominently labelled "U.S." for the United States, but it was jokingly said that the letters stood for "Uncle Sam." Soon, Uncle Sam was used as shorthand for the federal government.
The man himself looked nothing like the gaunt, steely-eyed patrician of popular lore. The Abe Lincoln look, along with that fantastic star-spangled outfit, was a product of political cartoonist Thomas Nast, who was one of the most popular artists of the 1800's. (Nast was also responsible for our popular images of Santa Claus, the Republican Elephant, and the Democratic Donkey.) [3]
Uncle Sam became a useful icon in cartoons, much like the John Bull character who represented the United Kingdom. John Bull and Uncle Sam have squared off in hundreds of political cartoons throughout the years.
The most famous image of the Uncle Sam persona was a World War I recruiting image that depicted a stern Sam pointing his finger at the viewer and declaring, "I want you". It was painted by artist James Montgomery Flagg in 1916, just prior to US involvement in World War I.
Other media
The 1864 song "U.S.G. A Song For The Times" by Dan D. Emmett refers to General Ulysses S. Grant as "Uncle Sam" in the Chorus: "Then U.S.G's the man for me, Three cheers for your old Uncle Sam!" Sheet music scans may be seen at the Library of Congress American Memory Lincoln website: [1].
In addition to the appearance of Uncle Sam in politics, the character has also appeared as a comic book hero for Quality and then 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, a veteran who died during Desert Storm rises from the dead to exact justice upon those he perceives as "unAmerican" after some teenagers burn the American Flag on his grave. The poster is a full-on spoof of the classic Uncle Sam poster, with a zombified Sam and the tagline "I want you... dead."
Major League Baseball's New York Yankees feature Uncle Sam's hat in their team logo, where it sits atop a bat that forms the vertical line of the "K" in "Yankees". The hat is frequently used in imagery pertaining to the team, and fans often wear Uncle Sam hats to games or other functions.
In music, rock group Grateful Dead featured a skeletal Uncle Sam as one of the band's symbols. Uncle Sam, referred to in their song U.S. Blues, is one of the many elements that compose the band's "American mythology".
Ice Cube features Uncle Sam dead on the album cover for Death Certificate.
Kelly Clarkson mentions mentions Uncle Sam in her song "I Want You" on her fourth album, All I Ever Wanted.
See also
- Uncle Sam Memorial Statue (Arlington, Massachusetts)
- Sam (Olympic mascot)
- Lord Kitchener Wants You
Bibliography
- Fenster, Bob. They Did What!?, Andrews McMeel Publishing, 2003. ISBN 0-7407-3793-7
References
- ^ a b "The Most Famous Poster". American Treasures of the Library of Congress.
- ^ Who Created Uncle Sam?, Livescience.com: Life's Little Mysteries, accessed 7/2/08.
- ^ http://www.sonofthesouth.net/uncle-sam/
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
- "USA Thinking Team" - new images of a modern Uncle Sam promoting peace. Messages from his helpmate, Aunt Sarah.