In 1780, Samuel Wilson was fourteen years old. He ran away from his home in Massachusetts to follow in his father and brothers’ footsteps by joining the Continental Army. He served until the end of the war. In 1790, he and his brother opened a meat-packing business in Troy, NY. They were proud of the fact that they could slaughter and pack 150 cattle per day. They managed to get a contract with the government to provide barrels of pork and beef for the Army during the War of 1812. Samuel was a gregarious character who was well-known for his gray hair and top hat. He was popular, hard-working, fair, and honest. Good American attributes. Once, when a group was touring the plant, someone asked about the “EA-US” stamps on the meat. The EA stood for Elbert Anderson, Jr., who was the government contractor and the US stood for the United States. But the worker who was asked about the initials decided to have some fun. He explained that the US stood for his boss, who was called “Uncle Sam” by his friends and workers. Since Wilson was a well-known figure and had the characteristics one would want in a national symbol, the nickname caught on. (In 1961, Congress confirmed that Samuel Wilson was the model for Uncle Sam.) The reference to “Uncle Sam” first appeared in a newspaper on Sept. 7, 1813. On March 13, 1852, cartoonist Frank Bellew drew Uncle Sam for the first time for a cartoon in The New York Lantern, a weekly newspaper in New York City. The cartoon is about the competition between two transatlantic shipping firms for mail delivery. The Cunard Line was backed by the British government (represented by the symbol for Great Britain – John Bull) and the American Collins Line was subsidized by the US Postal Service. (It is represented by the little boy). Uncle Sam watches aloofly. But the look we are used to today was the work of the great political cartoonist Thomas Nast (who also created the look of Santa Claus and the Republican elephant).
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/united-states-nicknamed-uncle-sam
https://www.legendsofamerica.com/ah-unclesam/
https://www.dailycartoonist.com/index.php/2022/03/13/cartoon-uncle-sam-debuts-march-13-1852/
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