What do uncle sam stand for

Word of the Day. Meanings Meanings. The real Uncle Sam? Go Behind The Words! Get the strangest stories of your favorite words in your inbox. This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged. A popular etymology first traces the origins of the usage of "Uncle Sam" to early American military history, when it referred to the meat packer Samuel Wilson. Wilson served as an officer during the American Revolutionary War, procuring meat supplies for the Continental Army. After leaving the army, he and his brother went on to establish a meatpacking house in Troy, New York, which supplied U.

Barrels of Wilson's meat stamped "U. Before the 19th century, the U. Female representations of the U. Uncle Sam is sometimes used in the financial media to refer to the federal government, particularly in the context of income taxes or financial regulation.

Some tax-sheltered products, such as municipal bonds or qualified retirement accounts , are sometimes referred to as "off-limits to Uncle Sam," denoting that they are not subject to taxation by the federal government.

The character of Uncle Sam has been widely used in U. Uncle Sam was used, for example, to promote the U. Treasury's liberty bond program to finance World War I military spending, which one study showed help drive the financialization of the U. In , Congress passed a resolution recognizing Samuel Wilson as the namesake of the Uncle Sam symbol. His likeness has appeared numerous times since the s. Uncle Sam is based on a meat packer named Samuel Wilson.

Wilson served in the Revolutionary War, obtaining meat supplies for the Continental Army. After the war, he and his brother started a meatpacking company. His company supplied troops in the War of with meat, earning him the nickname "Uncle Sam. Uncle Sam is a personification of the U. Sam sat opposite him in perfect silence, waiting, with eager curiosity, for the termination of the scene. He could not bear to open his dreadful situation to his Uncle David, nor to kill himself, nor to defy the vengeance of Longcluse.

A figure who stands for the government of the United States and for the United States itself. Uncle Sam — whose initials are the abbreviation of United States — is portrayed as an old man with a gray goatee who sports a top hat and Stars and Stripes clothing. Compare John Bull. New Word List Word List.

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