WEBVTT - Who Is Uncle Sam?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeartRadio, Hey, brain Stuff,

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<v Speaker 1>Lauren Vogelbaum. Here, when Uncle Sam leans forward from the page,

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<v Speaker 1>fixing his penetrating gaze upon you and pointing at your heart,

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<v Speaker 1>there's nowhere to hide. He's a man with authority, white

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<v Speaker 1>haired and dressed in an old fashioned suit and top hat,

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<v Speaker 1>all in red, white and blue. He's got the full

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<v Speaker 1>weight of the United States of America behind him. But

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<v Speaker 1>who is this Uncle Sam guy? Where did he come from?

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<v Speaker 1>The most famous image of Uncle Sam is from a

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<v Speaker 1>poster created in nineteen seventeen. It had the painting described above,

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<v Speaker 1>with the slogan I want you for the US Army

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<v Speaker 1>enlist now. It's the work of artist James Montgomery Flagg,

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<v Speaker 1>a painter and illustrator who was asked to create propaganda

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<v Speaker 1>posters during World War One. Flag was inspired by a

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<v Speaker 1>British army recruitment poster by Alfred Leet from nineteen four

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<v Speaker 1>which featured the British Minister of War pointing at the

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<v Speaker 1>audience with the slogan join your Country's army. Flagg used

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<v Speaker 1>his own face as a model, adding wrinkles and a beard.

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<v Speaker 1>The poster was printed more than four million times in

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<v Speaker 1>the last year of the war, but Uncle Sam had

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<v Speaker 1>a life long before that. The character was long thought

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<v Speaker 1>to derive from one Uncle Sam Wilson, a Troy, New

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<v Speaker 1>York meat packer who supplied barrels of beef to the

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<v Speaker 1>army during the War of eighteen twelve. The barrels were

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<v Speaker 1>stamped US indicating they were government property, and the soldiers

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<v Speaker 1>called them Uncle Sam's. The New York Gazette popularized this

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<v Speaker 1>story in nineteen thirty. The explanation had such credence that

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<v Speaker 1>Congress passed a resolution in nineteen sixty one recognizing Sam

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<v Speaker 1>Wilson as being the origin of the name. But historians

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<v Speaker 1>find this tale to be flawed for several reasons. One

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<v Speaker 1>is that in twenty thirteen, the USS Constitution Museum uncovered

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<v Speaker 1>a diary entry from eighteen ten written by a slightly

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<v Speaker 1>disgruntled sixteen year old sailor serving on the USS Wasp.

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<v Speaker 1>The sailor wrote that he had been so seasick he

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<v Speaker 1>would have gone ashore if you could. He wrote, I

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<v Speaker 1>swear that Uncle Sam, as they call him, would certainly

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<v Speaker 1>forever have lost the services of at least one sailor.

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<v Speaker 1>This reference shows that Uncle Sam was already a cultural

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<v Speaker 1>reference before the War of eighteen twelve. A few other

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<v Speaker 1>references that show early uses of the term also tend

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<v Speaker 1>to discredit the Sam Wilson origin story, though Wilson may

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<v Speaker 1>have helped popularize an existing character. It turns out that

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<v Speaker 1>the minister who led Sam Wilson's funeral once wrote a

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<v Speaker 1>letter saying that he had spoken often with Wilson about

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<v Speaker 1>the circumstances of his name getting attached to a larger idea.

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<v Speaker 1>Uncle Sam's flashy appearance has evolved over time as cartoonists

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<v Speaker 1>have envisioned and re envisioned him. Sam's antecedent was probably

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<v Speaker 1>Brother Jonathan, a character who appeared in plays, stories, and

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<v Speaker 1>verse personifying the United States in the late seventeen hundreds.

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<v Speaker 1>In contrast with the character John Bull, who personified Great

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<v Speaker 1>Britain around eighteen twelve, Brother Jonathan began appearing in cartoons.

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<v Speaker 1>He was dressed as an American revolutionary with a long

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<v Speaker 1>military jacket and tri cornered hat. Simultaneously, there was Columbia,

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<v Speaker 1>a majestic, neoclassical female personification of America popular through the

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<v Speaker 1>seventeen and eighteen hundreds. She often wore a breastplate and

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<v Speaker 1>a long swirling skirt. Uncle Sam first appeared in the

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<v Speaker 1>cartoon in the eighteen thirties. He and brother Jonathan were

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<v Speaker 1>used from the eighteen thirties until the start of the

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<v Speaker 1>Civil War to represent the United States. They usually wore

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<v Speaker 1>striped pants, top hats, and whiskers. They also appeared in

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<v Speaker 1>the British magazine Punch, illustrated by cartoonists Sir John Tenniel

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<v Speaker 1>and John Leech. Brother Jonathan disappeared by the eighteen sixties,

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<v Speaker 1>but Uncle Sam was taken up by cartoonist Thomas Nast,

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<v Speaker 1>who often drew him with big boots and flyaway hair fixing.

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<v Speaker 1>The modern image then came World War One and Flagg's

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<v Speaker 1>well known posters. He created forty four in all, at

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<v Speaker 1>many featuring Uncle Sam. The US government used Uncle Sam's

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<v Speaker 1>image during both World Wars. Since then, he's been appropriated

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<v Speaker 1>for various advocacy messages. For example, a conservative cartoon shows

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<v Speaker 1>him reduced to a beggar, a message that the US

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<v Speaker 1>government is spending too much, an anti war cartoon shows

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<v Speaker 1>him as a bloodthirsty warmonger, and in twenty twenty five,

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<v Speaker 1>Samuel L. Jackson portrayed him in Kendrick Lamar's Super Bowl

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<v Speaker 1>halftime show, playing the character as a sort of Uncle Tom,

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<v Speaker 1>scolding Lamar's presumed lack of propriety on a national stage.

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<v Speaker 1>Uncle Tom is a different episode, but it's clear that

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<v Speaker 1>Uncle Sam remains a vivid presence in our cultural lexicon.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's episode is based on the article Uncle Sam, the Band,

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<v Speaker 1>the Myth, the Legend on HowStuffWorks dot Com, written by

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<v Speaker 1>Stelle Simon pen brain Stuff is production of iHeartRadio in

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<v Speaker 1>partnership with HowStuffWorks dot Com and is produced by Tyler

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<v Speaker 1>Klangfore More podcasts my Heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app,

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<v Speaker 1>Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.