On This Day: September 7th - The Birth of Uncle Sam

Have you ever seen that image of Uncle Sam pointing his finger at you and saying "I Want You Former The U.S. Army."? If so you are probably familiar with image of Uncle Sam. A tall, gangly man with a long white beard and a top hat, fitted in patriotic clothes. But how did this symbol come about? Well the story goes that a meatpacker named Sam Wilson was delivering barrells of beef to U.S. soldiers during the War of 1812. He abbreviated "United States" to "U.S." on the side of the barrells and shipped them away. When soldiers recieved them, they called them Uncle Sam's. A New York newspaper carried the story and the name became a popular nickname for the United States government.

During the 1860s and 1870s, a popular cartoonist named Thomas Nast used Uncle Sam in several cartoons and helped spread the symbol. Thomas Nast also created and popularized other now famous symbols such as the donkey representing the democratic national party and the elephant to represent the Republican national party. On September 7th, 1983 "Uncle Sam" became the official nickname of the United States government. The symbol of Uncle Sam would become historically significant because of its use in both pro and anti-government propaganda from the nineteenth century to today. The most famous propaganda is most likely the one you have seen of him pointing his long finger directly at you. This was of course used by the United States Army for recruitment purposes.

"United States nicknamed Uncle Sam." 2008. The History Channel website. 13 Sep 2008, 06:54 http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history.do?action=Article&id=52848.