WASHINGTON DC, KOMPAS.com – The story Why is America called Uncle Sam’s Country? started in 1812 due to a misunderstanding.
At that time, a meatpacking service worker named Samuel Wilson was supplying meat from Troy, New York, to the Army United States of America in a barrel container during the War of 1812.
Samuel Wilson (1766-1854) stamped the barrel with the words “US” which actually stands for United States or United States of America, but US soldiers mistook US for Uncle Sam. That’s the answer who is Uncle Sam or who is Uncle Sam.
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Quoted from Historylocal newspapers then picked up the story and Uncle Sam or Uncle Sam finally widely accepted as the epithet and personification of the United States federal government.
The story of why America is called the Land of Uncle Sam continued in the 1860s and into the 1870s, when the political cartoonist Thomas Nast (1840-1902) began to popularize the image of Uncle Sam.
Nast continued to develop the image, from giving him a white beard and after the star-stripes that form the foundation of the character today.
In addition to drawing the Uncle Sam cartoon, the German-born cartoonist also created a modern image of Santa Claus, a donkey as a symbol of the American Democratic Party, and an elephant as a symbol for the US Republican Party.
However, the most famous drawings of Uncle Sam are those of the artist James Montgomery Flagg (1877-1960).
In Flagg’s version, Uncle Sam wears a tall hat and blue jacket and points forward.
According to Britannicathe image of Uncle Sam comes from two earlier symbolic characters in American folklore, namely Yankee Doodle and Brother Jonathan.
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Yankee Doodle was the nickname for colonial America during the American Revolution. The name was inspired by the British.
Then, Brother Jonathan is a rural American who is told to be intelligent. His intelligence as a native is surprising, so that he always wins against his enemies in dramas, stories, cartoons, and poetry.
The picture that is the reason why America is called the Land of Uncle Sam is getting more and more popular after being displayed on the cover of the newspaper Leslie’s Weekly in July 1916 under the title “What Do You Do for Vigilance?”
The poster was widely distributed, then reused many times with different texts.
Furthermore, in September 1961 the US Congress recognized Samuel Wilson as the ancestor of America’s national symbol, Uncle Sam.
Samuel Wilson died in 1854 at the age of 87 years. He is buried next to his wife, Betsey Mann, at Oakwood Cemetery in Troy, New York. The town calls itself “Uncle Sam’s House”.
Even though Samuel Wilson has passed away, his name will always be remembered as the person behind the reason why America is called the Land of Uncle Sam.
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