[Ads-l] 1780 Use of "Sam" to refer to the U.S. (precursor to "Uncle Sam"?)

[Steven Losie]

To play devil's advocate, could "Sammy" in this poem be the personification
of France? Molly (the thirteen colonies) are "bundled now" with Sammy
(France) as of the January 1780 publication date, since the Treaty of
Alliance was signed in February 1778.

If that is the case, I would venture to guess that "Molly" is an allusion
to Moll Flanders - a fictional English criminal and thief who spends many
years in the American colonies before recognizing the error of her ways,
returning to England at the end of the book.

"Sammy" might be Samuel de Champlain, the French explorer credited as the
founder of New France in North America. The modern national personification
of France is "Marianne," which dates to the French Revolution, which would
be several years after this poem was written.

The "truants for assistants" might be Spain and the Netherlands, providing
support for the U.S.-French alliance.

Looking at the first verses:

II. To shew that Good from Evil comes,
According to the Scripture,
When Mary Cay stole sugar plumbs,
You know how Mother whipp'd her.
III. She whipp'd her up and down the house,
Till Moll was in a fluster,
Yet swore she did not care a louse
For all her mother's bluster.

"Mary Cay" might be the "Massachusetts Colony" and the "sugar plumbs" would
then likely be a reference to the Sugar Act of 1764 that Massachusetts
defied.

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