#uncle sam

Rubber!

July 24, 1910

Nelson Aldrich and Simon Guggenheim tend to a rubber plant growing near the U.S. Capitol. Aldrich waters the plant from a watercan labelled Crude Rubber Free while nearby is another watercan labelled Higher Tariff on Manufactured Rubber. Observing the scene from beyond the fence is Uncle Sam, next to a sign saying Wanted a Tariff Free From Politics U.S.

Aldrich was an ally of the Guggenheims in a mammoth trust incorporated as a rubber company. He was working to keep tariffs on crude rubber low, to allow his allies to import it, but manufactured rubber high, so that they would not have competitors.

From Hennepin County Library

Uncle Sam being aggressive

I mean, Captain America debuted in the 1940s, patriotic superheroes were a dime a dozen in that period. Uncle Sam is kind of interesting though, in that rather than being a human with powers like Steve Rogers, Uncle Sam is actually a mystical being - either an empowered ghost from the Revolutionary War or the magically summoned personification of America as a concept - so while people figuratively talk about Steve Rogers being intended to represent the best parts of America as a country Uncle Sam is that concept taken literally?

Which, depending on who is writing, can be just as terrifying as that sounds?

That's a point, while I'm not sure what Uncle Sam's position is in the DCU at present (Geoff Johns had him killed by Sinestro in Infinite Crisis, because of course he did), but considering how Tom King's Wonder Woman comic established America as a secret monarchy (complete with a One True Queen, her throne having been usurped by her brother, the villain Sovereign, when their father tried to break with protocol and make her the next heir instead), what the heck is Uncle Sam's take on this?

But considering how Sam's entire point is that he's empowered by the concepts of freedom, truth etc. how do they square that circle with Sam being the personification of Revolutionary/American ideals when a hereditary royal family has been ruling the country for almost as long as Uncle Sam's been a thing?

Like. within the story you could take the Sovereign and his family to be a metaphor for how America, despite proclaiming itself to be a bastion of democracy and individualism was actually founded by landed gentry and slavers who didn't want to pay taxes (with Alexander Hamilton writing about how democracy was a poison as it allowed for "mob rule", with the proposal that power be centred on the wealthy elite who own land instead of giving regular people the vote), with a history that is happily wallpapered over with happy lies, and how even the American dream is just propaganda to get you to buy fridge... but their introducing the idea of the Sovereign's sister and the idea that a secret monarchy can exist in America if done correctly... makes the metaphor disintegrate?