Was "Uncle Sam" a real person?

As the historical resources in the Yahoo! <a href="http://dir.yahoo.com/Arts/Humanities/History/U_S__History/People/Uncle_Sam___Wilson__Sam__1766_1854_/">Uncle Sam - Sam Wilson Category</a> attest, the American icon Uncle Sam was in fact based on a <a href="http://xroads.virginia.edu/~CAP/SAM/sam.htm">real man</a>, albeit a rather short, pudgy, beardless one. A businessman from Troy, New York, Samuel Wilson provided the army with beef in barrels during the <a href="http://dir.yahoo.com/Arts/Humanities/History/By_Time_Period/19th_Century/Military_History/War_of_1812/">War of 1812</a>. The barrels were prominently labeled "U.S." for the United States, but it was joking said that the letters stood for "Uncle Sam." Soon, Uncle Sam was used as shorthand for the federal government. The man himself looked nothing like the gaunt, steely-eyed patrician of popular lore. The Abe Lincoln look, along with that fantastic star-spangled outfit, was a product of political cartoonists like <a href=" ...  more

During the War of 1812, Samuel Wilson of Troy, New York, supplied barrels of salted meat to the U.S. government for-its troops. To show that he had personally inspected the meat, Wilson stamped the letters "U.S." on the meat, indicating that it was for the U.S. government. But Wilson's neighbors in Troy, who fondly called him "Uncle Sam," took it to mean the initials of Uncle Sam Wilson. As the years passed, cartoon characters named Uncle Sam appeared in newspapers to represent the United States government. Probably the most popular was the recruiting poster used by the army during World War I. It showed Uncle Sam, in stars and stripes, pointing a finger out and saying, "I want YOU for the U.S. Army." It wasn't until 1961 that Congress passed a resolution acknowledging Wilson as the namesake of our national symbol.  more

No, he was a marketing ploy. Uncle Sam is a national personification of the United States, with the first usage of the term dating from the War of 1812 and the first illustration dating from 1852. He is often depicted as a serious elderly man with white hair and a goatee, with an obvious resemblance to President Andrew Jackson, and dressed in clothing that recalls the design elements of the flag of the United States—for example, typically a top hat with red and white stripes and white stars on a blue band, and red and white striped trousers.  more