As a personification of the United States, Uncle Sam is at once beloved and detested.The insistent cartoon — clad in stars and stripes and bearing great semblance to Abraham Lincoln — was, and to some extent still is, lauded as the alpha hero of America. Making appearances in everything from wartime propaganda to insurance ads, he is the heralded patriotic emblem of our country. As such, he’s also been the scapegoat for our financial woes. Try making it through tax day without hearing “Uncle Sam took all my money!”But beyond his fictionalized grandeur, few realize that Uncle Sam was based on a real man who lived 200 years ago — a fairly unknown meat-packer from Massachusetts. An unlikely inspiration, his values and actions were far removed from those associated with his fictional counterpart.

via The Real Life of Uncle Sam.