Albert Matthews

“ The Manlius Times, quoted in the New England Palladium of October 22, 1813, stated that "The Proclamation campaign has again commenced upon the Niagara frontiers" (p. 2-1) . In the Salem Gazette of December 3, 1813, appeared the following: "The same Collectors will be employed next winter to execute the same duties in the Moon, which, it is expected, will be 'looked down' during the next campaign!" (p. 3-2) .
On August 16, 1812, Hull ignominiously gave up himself, his army, and Detroit, and incidentally enriched the language with a new verb. ”

“ John Bull had christened this son of his by the name of Jonathan; but by and by, when he became a man grown, being a good hearty fellow, about half horse half alligator, [81] his friends and neighbours gave him the nickname of Uncle Sam; a sure sign that they liked him, for I never knew a respectable nickname given to a scurvy fellow in my life. Be this as it may, his family and all his neighbours at last came to call him nothing else but Uncle Sam; and all his beef, pork, and flour, in fact everything that belonged to him, was marked with a huge U. S., six inches long. ”

“ The old gentleman gave up his purse; the young man held back: a pistol was presented at him: 'Oh,' says he, 'don't shoot; old uncle always pays for me!' So poor old Uncle Sam, I suppose, will pay for all: and I am glad that the funding system has paid off our national debt, so that a few hundreds of thousands won't hurt us much now. ”

“ There are constant allusions in the newspapers to Greenbush. The Connecticut Courant of September 29, 1812, printed an extract dated Pittsfield, September 17: "Democratic Economy.—Within a few days past, several waggon loads of Vinegar and Molasses have passed through this village, on the way from Boston to Greenbush, near Albany. These articles were purchased at Boston for the use of the troops at Greenbush. The vinegar cost the government Five Dollars per barrel, in Boston; and according to the statement of the teamsters, the expence of transportation would be much more than the first cost. ”

“ But Major Jack and Uncle Sam of Boston (mortal Sam) both sleep with their forefathers, if they ever had any, leaving only their names behind; glorious Jack being famous in story, and Uncle Sam's initials, U. S., being wedded to E. Pluribus unum, for better or worse, until the twenty-six stars of North America shall be separated by some violent effort of nature, or a general convulsion of Yankee Republicanism. But if Major Jack is never seen in propria persona, he is sometimes represented by others, who prefer his name to their own. ”

“ But if political warfare nowadays is less abusive and vituperative than it was a century ago, as is certainly the case, yet also it is distinctly less picturesque. Is it possible that in the matter of nicknames, we Americans have lost our inventive capacity? ”

“ The joke went round merrily among the men, some of whom going afterwards to the frontiers, and there partaking of the very provisions they had assisted to pack and mark, still adhered to calling it Uncle Sam; and as every thing else of the army appointments bore also the letters U. S., Uncle Sam became a ready name, first for all that appertained to the United States, and, finally, for the United States itself—a cognomen which is as likely to be perpetuated, as that of John Bull for old England" (Annals of Philadelphia and Pennsylvania, II, 335) . ”

“ The third explanation of the origin of Uncle Sam is that the sobriquet was merely a jocular extension of the letters U. S. This explanation, like the Wilson story, rests purely on assumption. There is nothing in the least either unusual or remarkable in the process of abbreviating a term and then expanding it. In the amenities of political warfare in this country in 1855, it was considered the height of wit to dub a politician "D. D." and then expand the initials into something derogatory. ”

“ As a matter of fact, the abbreviations U. S. or U. States, as also G. B. or G. Britain, were common early in the nineteenth century; [111] and it would no more have been possible for men in 1813 to ask the meaning of the letters U. S. than would such an inquiry be possible now. Fifthly, the early evidence, while it may not be absolutely conclusive, not only fails to corroborate the Wilson story but strongly points to another conclusion; while the earliest known example of Uncle Sam is from a Troy paper, but without reference to Samuel Wilson. ”

“ UNCLE SAM, a worthy gentleman Slaveholder (of Virginia) wants to purchase, at 124 dollars a head, 65,000 ('more or less') stout, able-bodied, full-blooded YANKEES, to aid Field Marshall, the Duke of Newburgh, in taking Possession of a Plantation he has lately bargained for, (with himself) if he can get it, IN CANADA. Apply at the truly fortunate Lottery Office;—or, elsewhere, if more convenient;—as every 'Office-holder or Citizen,' in the United States, is fully authorized and empowered to contract, as the acknowledged agent of his Uncle. ”

“ When the British troops arrived at Boston in 1768 it was stated, under date of September 29 of that year, that "the Yankey Doodle Song was the Capital Piece in their Band of Music;" [113] and, much to the annoyance of the good people of Boston, the British persisted in playing the air at intervals for another seven years. As the "Father and I" song was written not earlier than 1775, obviously it could not have been "the original" Yankee Doodle song. In 1824, J. Farmer and J. B. Moore, believing that "the burlesque song . . . ”

“ Among the contractors supplying the Army of the North with provisions was Elbert Anderson, jr., who, on October 1st, advertised in the Troy and Albany newspapers for proposals for 'two thousand barrels of prime pork and three hundred barrels of prime beef,' to be delivered to him in the months of January, February, March, and April, at Waterford, Troy, Albany, and New York. ”

“ During the ascendancy of the Know-Nothing party, however, the word "Sam" was used in this country for a brief period. "The allusion," wrote Farmer in 1889, "is to Uncle Sam, the national sobriquet, the Know Nothings claiming that in a nation mostly made up of immigrants, only native-born citizens should possess and exercise privileges and powers" (Americanisms Old and New, p. 470) . "The name," said H. F. Reddall in 1892, "contains, of course, an allusion to 'Uncle Sam,' the personification of the government of the United States" (Fact, Fancy, and Fable, p. 452) . A few examples may be given. ”

“ The words "more or less" apparently occurred in the official accounts of the capture of York in April, 1813, but I have not been able to discover in exactly what connection. At all events, they caused much fun in the peace papers. "One dead Indian, 'more or less,'" said the New York Herald of July 14, 1813, p. 1-1. "Wanted," declared the Columbian Centinel of December 4, 1813, "about five hundred ('more or less') able-bodied, stout-hearted real Americans, to collect our land tax in our territory of Canada" (p. 2-3) . ”

“ The term first appeared in papers published in cities or towns either in New York—as Troy, Lansingburgh, and Herkimer; or in Vermont—as Burlington and Windsor, In short, it arose exactly where one would expect it to arise—either in the neighborhood of Greenbush or along the Canadian frontiers where the fighting was done. Finally, there is one singular feature of the evidence. Every instance of Uncle Sam thus far [40] given, except that in the "Siege of Plattsburg," is taken from a peace paper, while not once does the term occur in a war paper. ”

“ It may be doubted whether any one has ever seriously advanced the notion that Sambo is formed from Sam or Samuel, or that there is a connection between Sambo and Uncle Sam. "This Negre Sambo comes to me," wrote R. Ligon in 1657, "and seeing the needle wag, desired to know the reason of its stirring" (True & Exact History of the Island of Barbados, pp. 49, 50, 54) . Before 1700 we read of "Sambo negro helping caring goods" (New England Historical and Genealogical Register, XXXIV, 98) . In the Boston News-Letter of October 2, 1704, an advertisement stated that "There is a Negro man taken up . ”

“ It becomes us to notice a remarkable change in Uncle Sam's Lady. She has lately discarded all her former notions of parsimony and philosophic whims of economy, and has most graciously bestowed on herself a very splendid Salary, and whereas, formerly her family servants received only six dollars per diem, they now receive fifteen hundred, for each entertainment or levee she holds, to see company." [75]
It has already been noted that in books published in 1812 and 1814, Paulding did not employ the term Uncle Sam. ”