Who is Uncle Sam?

Uncle Sam is a national symbol in the United States. Often times depicted by cartoonists, he is the image of our country's government. But where did this white bearded man come from? And why does he represent our great nation?

The story behind Sam:

It all started during the War of 1812, when a man named Samuel Wilson supplied barrels of meat to the American troops. The containers had "U.S." stamped on the outside. History has it that troops joked about the initials "U.S." standing for "Uncle Sam" Wilson. Thus the United States soldiers began referring to the food as "Uncle Sam's." That's all it took. The following year, on September 7 1813, Uncle Sam was officially adopted as the nickname for the United States federal government. The U.S. Congress actually recognized Samuel Wilson as "the progenitor of America's national symbol of Uncle Sam." All this because of one guy and his meat barrels. Who would have guessed he'd become so famous?

Later on in America's history, cartoonists began giving imagery to Uncle Sam. Thomas Nast was the first to do so. Pretty soon Uncle Sam was showing up in newspapers, on posters, and everywhere you looked. The most famous image of Uncle Sam came on posters during World War I. It was inspired by the drawing of artist James Montgomery Flagg. Underneath these posters were the words "I want you for the U.S. Army" or "Uncle Sam needs you!" These posters, in a sense, brought Uncle Sam to life. With his stern gaze and directly pointed finger, Uncle Sam drew thousands of young men into the army. He is perhaps the most popular personification of our nation. Thank you Uncle Sam for inspiring greatness!