Artifact Representation: “Uncle Sam Wants You” Poster

Humanities: “Uncle Sam Wants You” Poster
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Humanities: “Uncle Sam Wants You” Poster
"Uncle Sam Wants You" poster is a self-portrait of Uncle Sam by James Montgomery Flagg. The portrait became famous during the First World War, with over four million copies being plastered on billboards across the U.S. The universal idea represented by the poster is the recruitment of soldiers into the U.S. Army during the First and Second World Wars (Hamilton, 2018). It is evident that the universal idea represented by the poster is to urge people to participate in these global events by joining the U.S. Army.
Fig 1. “Uncle Sam Wants You” poster (Vintagraph, 2019)
What can be inferred from the poster in terms of context and culture is the responsibility of Americans to put their national interests first by being recruited into the army. The portrait shows Uncle Sam, who inspired young men to participate in the First World War (WWI) (Andrews, 2017). The poster also emerged a century ago when the U.S. declared war on Germany, and this implies that the context of the portrait was to convince young men to be recruited into the army. The poster is also a representation of...