During the war of 1812 there was a prosperous meat-packer names Samuel Wilson. During the war he obtained a contract to supply beef to the Army for its campaign in the north. The meat was shipped in government owned barrels stamped "US". The teamsters and soldiers joked that the initials actually stood for Uncle Sam referring to Wilson's nickname. Soon enough everything stamped with US was considered belonging to Uncle Sam.
There are some histories who believe that the story of Uncle Sam is contrived, however there is a newspaper article from 1830 which quotes eyewitnesses confirming the story of Uncle Sam. On September 15th 1961 the 87th United States Congress adopted the following resolution,
"Resolved by the Senate and the House of Representatives that the Congress salutes Uncle Sam Wilson of Troy, New York, as the progenitor of America's National symbol of Uncle Sam."
-Professor Walter
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