Uncle Sam

Since the early 19th century, Uncle Sam has been a popular symbol of the U.S. government in American culture and a manifestation of patriotic emotion.

[3] Uncle Sam has also developed notoriety for his appearance in military propaganda, popularized by a 1917 World War I recruiting poster by James Montgomery Flagg.

A March 24, 1810, journal entry by Isaac Mayo (a midshipman in the US Navy) states: weighed anchor stood down the harbor, passed Sandy Hook, where there are two light-houses, and put to sea, first and the second day out most deadly seasick, oh could I have got onshore in the hight [sic] of it, I swear that uncle Sam, as they call him, would certainly forever have lost the services of at least one sailor.

[10]An 1810 edition of Niles' Weekly Register has a footnote defining Uncle Sam as "a cant term in the army for the United States.

[13] Additionally, the earliest known mention definitely referring to the metaphorical Uncle Sam is from 1810, predating Wilson's contract with the government.

Flagg's depiction of Uncle Sam was shown publicly for the first time, according to some, on the cover of the magazine Leslie's Weekly on July 6, 1916, with the caption "What Are You Doing for Preparedness?

Flagg's image was also used extensively during World War II, during which the US was codenamed "Samland" by the German intelligence agency Abwehr.

A Congressional joint resolution[23] designated September 13, 1989, as "Uncle Sam Day", the birthday of Samuel Wilson.

J. M. Flagg 's 1917 poster was based on the original British Lord Kitchener poster of three years earlier. It was used to recruit soldiers for both World War I and World War II into the US Army . Flagg used a modified version of his own face for Uncle Sam, [ 1 ] and veteran Walter Botts provided the pose. [ 2 ]
Columbia , a female personification of the US, by American illustrator Paul Stahr
Uncle Sam and Columbia in an 1869 cartoon by Thomas Nast
Photograph of Samuel Wilson of Troy, New York
Uncle Sam often personified the United States in political cartoons , such as this one in 1897 about the U.S. annexation of Hawaii .
Uncle Sam taking the lead in cutting up China in J. S. Pughe 's cartoon ( Puck magazine , August 23, 1899)
An open portrait case. On the left side, there is curved ornamentation on purple velvet. On the right, a black-and-white almost full daguerreotype portrait of a white man whittling a stick looking to the side in a top hat, tails and a striped pant.
The "wily Yankee " was a stock character in mid-19th century American regional theater. His hat and striped pants were adopted for Uncle Sam. [ 19 ]
Poster by the United States Fuel Administration during World War One: "Uncle Sam needs that extra shovelful"