Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Uncle Sam - New York - Post 21th November


Uncle Sam is the national personification of the United States and one of the most famous national symbols in the world. The name Uncle Sam was first used during the Anglo-American War of 1812, but was designed in 1852.

He is usually depicted as a man with serious face with white hair and beard. There are sources that see a likeness of the face of Uncle Sam with President Andrew Jackson, the other of President Abraham Lincoln. Uncle Sam is depicted dressed in the colors and elements of the American flag - for example, a top hat with red and white stripes and white stars on a blue background and red and blue striped pants.

Source

Its first use date of the War of 1812, and his first illustration date of 1852.


Over time, the nickname became increasingly popular until the magazine Punch christened as the American symbol. The folklore says that Uncle Sam was created by American soldiers in upstate New York, receiving barrels of meat with the initials U.S. (the United States) stamped. The soldiers would have played, saying the initial U. S. mean "Uncle Sam", a reference to the owner of the company supplying the meat, Samuel Wilson, from Troy, New York state. The U.S. Congress recognized Samuel Wilson as the inspirational figure of Uncle Sam in 1961.

Uncle Sam is mentioned in the literature for the first time in 1806, in allegorical book "The Adventures of Uncle Sam in Search After His Lost Honor", authored by Frederick Augustus Fidfaddy. In this book there is also reference to Samuel Wilson.

In 1870, cartoonist Thomas Nast drew a picture of Uncle Sam based on the face of Abraham Lincoln.

The poster "I Want You"

Ficheiro:Unclesamwantyou.jpg

In 1917, artist James Flagg drew it on a poster with your finger poised and with the phrase "I Want You for U.S. Army", commissioned by the U.S. military, which recruited soldiers for the First World War. This poster was inspired by the poster of Lord Kitchener, made three years earlier. Kitchener was Secretary of War in Britain when the conflict broke out. Uncle Sam was a example of historical symbol of U.S. power . The U.S., to show more superiodade also made ​​phrases to encourage people who went to war to fight for his country: "United we stand" and "God bless America".

1 comment:

  1. Nice symbol to talk about! It's a really famous american symbol people should know about!

    ReplyDelete