please give me a mini-u.s. history lesson!

[melly]

i know that america's gov't is nicknamed uncle sam...or am i incorrect here; does it actually refer to your IRS? i just don't understand *why* it got this name--what are the origins?

 

[fatbaby]

after a 3 second yahoo search

was that really that hard?

 

[Ylen13]

irs stands for internal revenue service. Uncle same is nickname that alot of people use when they pay tax but the orgonization it self called irs. Someone else can give u more in depth history lesson.

 

[Soccer55]

Here ya go

-Tom

 

[FoBoT]

Troy NY is the "home" of Uncle Sam

linky

Troy, New York has been associated with Uncle Sam since the War of 1812.


As the story goes... During the war, Sam Wilson was a meat packer (...meat used to be packed in barrels) living and working in Troy, New York. Each barrel of meat rations was stamped US, before it was shipped to the soldiers. The soldiers of that time equated their United States supplied rations with Uncle Sam Wilson. The story grew to mythological proportions, resulting in a somewhat fictional image of Sam Wilson emerging as the white bearded, red - white - and - blue clad symbol of America.

Mr. Wilson's remains are now located in Oakwood Cemetary in North Troy, though he lives on in numerous ad campaigns all over the world.

 

[melly]

fatbaby, my google wasn't loading for me just now, and i don't yahoo. thanks for the link on his origins though, but it didn't explain what paying taxes had to do with his position of overseeing the troops.

i do remember the infamous 'i want you' poster with uncle sam pointing his finger and advertising for new recruits.

 

[melly]

thanks for the links, very interesting!

 

[Evadman]

Now try to find out why our solders are called "GI's". That will take more than a few seconds on google. I bet most most servicemen do not know.

 

[melly]

Originally posted by: EvadmanNow try to find out why our solders are called "GI's". That will take more than a few seconds on google. I bet most most servicemen do not know.

'Home Front' Timeline
January First American soldiers (called G.I.s after the words "Government Issue" on their equip­ment) land in Britain.
From: http://www.fortunecity.co.uk/meltingpot/oxford/330/time.html