Brother Jonathan (symbolic figure)

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Brother Jonathan in striped trousers, dark coat and pipe hat, drawn by Thomas Nast .

Brother Jonathan , in German Brother Jonathan, is a personification of New England . It has also been used as a personification across the United States and is also an allegory of capitalism .

Brother Jonathan became a fictional character . The weekly Brother Jonathan, which appeared from the middle of the 18th century, was named after him.

Brother Jonathan was usually portrayed as a New Englander with striped trousers, a dark coat and a stovepipe cylinder . In New England he was portrayed as a successful entrepreneur.

history

"Mrs. Britannia ”and her daughter“ Miss Canada ”discuss whether“ Cousin Jonathan ”wants to marry Canada. A political cartoon from 1886 that captures fears that the United States would seek union with Canada.

The term appeared at the latest in the 17th century and was used for Puritan roundheads during the English Civil War . It is derived from David's defensive cry about the death of his friend Jonathan , "Woe is to me for you, my brother Jonathan." ( 2 Samuel 1:26  [1] ).

It keeps the legend that the name of the former governor of Connecticut , Jonathan Trumbull (1710-85), deduce. Connecticut then supplied the northern and central departments of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. When asked whether they would win the war, George Washington is said to have said: "We have to consult Brother Jonathan." This origin is doubtful, as neither person referred to this story during their lifetime and it was only long after their death in the mid-19th century Century appeared. In the 1850s, the New England-based Know-Nothing Party split into two camps, the moderate Jonathans and the radical Sams. Uncle Sam became the symbol of the United States at the end of the 19th century, ousting Brother Jonathan.

An 1893 article in The Lutheran Witness magazine referred to Brother Jonathan and Uncle Sam as two different names of the same person.

“When we meet him in politics we call him Uncle Sam; when we meet him in society we call him Brother Jonathan. Here of late Uncle Sam alias Brother Jonathan has been doing a powerful lot of complaining, hardly doing anything else. "

“When we meet him in politics, we call him Uncle Sam; when we meet him in society we call him Brother Jonathan. Lately, Uncle Sam aka Brother Jonathan has been complaining heavily and doing little else. "

References

The phrase “We must consult Brother Jonathan” appears on Yale University's Trumbull College diplomas .

The Jonathan Club in Los Angeles is said to be named after Jonathan Trumbull. The club was only founded in 1895 and the true origin of the name has been lost.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b James David Hart, Phillip Leininger: The Oxford companion to American literature . 6th edition. Oxford Univ. Press, New York; Oxford 1995, ISBN 0-19-506548-4 (English).
  2. ↑ http://www.lexikus.de/bibliothek/Glimpf-und-Schimpf-in-Sracht-und-Wort-Teil-1/Bruder-Jonathan
  3. ^ "A Bit of Advice" The Lutheran Witness p. 100 on December 7, 1893

Web links

Commons : Brother Jonathan  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files