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August 2008

Home » Best Days » How did America get an Uncle Sam?

How did America get an Uncle Sam?

Many believe that Uncle Sam was coined and then symbolized after a New Hampshire native named Samuel Wilson. Wilson was born and lived in Mason, New Hampshire, until his teens. Seeking greener fields, he moved to Troy, New York, where he started working in the meat business. Because of his warmth, friendliness, and kindliness, the moniker “Uncle Sam” was popularly attributed to him.

During the War of 1812, Wilson associated himself with Elbert Anderson, a government contractor. Together they shipped large quantities of meat and other commodities from Troy to the American forces stationed various places in the North. These shipments were marked, “E.A.U.S.,” the initials of Anderson and the consignee, the United States Government.
The soldiers from Troy knew that the goods so marked were handled by Samuel Wilson, their Uncle Sam, and jokingly spoke of the meat as “Uncle Sam’s beef.” This expression was quickly adopted by their fellow soldiers, and was used by them to designate all property belonging to the United States Government as “Uncle Sam’s.”

The appellation became widely used by Americans and foreigners as a symbol of the United States. At first the symbol was of a stocky figure with a kindly face, patterned after the likeness of Samuel Wilson, and clad in striped trousers, high hat, and flowing coattails, similar to the civilian clothing of 1812. Along about 1880, some years after the death of Abraham Lincoln, the national cartoon of Uncle Sam was elongated into a figure of a tall, spare old gentleman, fashioned after the gaunt Lincoln. Today, Uncle Sam is still widely recognized and used as an American symbol.