Uncle Sam

Uncle Sam is a national personification of the United States dating from the War of 1812. Common folklore holds that his origins come from the men of an army base in Troy, 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. 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 (for example, see Cecil Adams' article at The Straight Dope) so the precise origin of the term may never be proven.

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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. Uncle Sam was first used in a political cartoon, drawn by the famous Thomas Nast. Today, with the possible exception of the Statue of Liberty, the character of Uncle Sam is probably the most easily recognizable personification of the United States.

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National personification: A national personification is an anthropomorphization of a nation; it can appear in both editorial cartoons and propaganda....

United States: :For other uses, see US (disambiguation), USA (disambiguation), and United States (disambiguation)....

Troy, New York: Troy is a city in New York and the county seat of Rensselaer County. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 49,170; in 1910, the population was 76,813....

Uncle Sam related Images and Photos (experimental)

Uncle Sam Cutout	KISS - Uncle Sam Army	U.S. Marines Uncle Sam's Right Hand	Uncle Sam Enjoying Good Times Whilst Riding an Elephant
John Bull "Licked Again" by Uncle Sam	Theodore Roosevelt 26th American President: Encouraged by Uncle Sam to Make Further Reforms	Uncle P (DVD) (WS)	Sam J. Jones
Uncle Buck	Uncle Buck	Sam Cooke	Sam Neill