Uncle Sam - American's National Symbol

When I first heard of Uncle Sam as the United States' nickname, I thought Sam has the letters A and M for America, and the U.S. government always tries to police the world, so Uncle Sam is short for the bossing United States of America. Until today...

In 1961, the U.S. congress declared: "Resolved by the Senate that the Congress salutes Uncle Sam Wilson of Troy, New York, as the progenitor of American's National Symbol of 'Uncle Sam'". So who is Uncle Sam Wilson?

Back in 1812, the Unites States declared war on Britain. The government gave contracts for all sorts of provisioners - uniform makers, ship makers, biscuit bakers, and meat packers, to make sure all the soldiers and sailors well supplied and fed.

Up in Troy, New York, Sam Wilson's slaughterhouse won a contract for packing cured beef into barrels to ship off to the army. Each barrel intended for the government was stamped "U.S." for the United States. But since Wilson was known locally as Uncle Sam, people began joking "U.S." stood for Uncle Sam Wilson. And as the barrels rolled their way down from New York, the term rolled along with them.

"That's Uncle Sam's," people pointed out whenever they saw the country's initials. Eventually the entire nation adopted Uncle Sam as the nickname for the federal government.