(1) most americans know that “uncle sam” is a nickname for the united states; however, few americans know how the name originated. (2) some historians believe the name comes from a nineteenth-century businessman from new york. (3) his real name was samuel wilson. (4) his neighbors called him uncle sam. (5) during the war of 1812, he won a government contract. (6) he was to supply beef to u. s. soldiers. (7) the beef was packed in barrels labeled “u. s.” to show that they belonged to the u. s. government. (8) soldiers from new york saw the barrels. (9) they jokingly said “u. s.” stood for uncle sam wilson. (10) the joke spread. (11) soon, soldiers began using the nickname uncle sam to refer to the united states. (12) civilians also began using the nickname uncle sam to refer to the united states. (13) in 1961, congress passed a resolution. (14) the resolution recognized samuel wilson as the original uncle sam. which is the most effective way to combine sentences (13) and (14)?

An effective way to combine both sentences is introducing a relative clause:

In 1961, Congress passed a resolution which recognized Samuel Wilson as the original Uncle Sam.

A relative clause relates a main clause “In 1961, Congress passed a resolution” with a dependant clause “recognized Samuel Wilson as the original Uncle Sam.” The aim is to avoid repetition, connect ideas and make the text flow.

author – information on the internet with a listed author is one indication of a credible site. the fact that the author is willing to stand behind the information presented (and in some cases, include his or her contact information) is a good indication that the information is reliable.

date – the date of any research information is important, including information found on the internet. by including a date, the website allows readers to make decisions about whether that information is recent enough for their purposes.

sources – credible websites, like books and scholarly articles, should cite the source of the information presented.

domain – some domains such as .com, .org, and .net can be purchased and used by any individual. however, the domain .edu is reserved for colleges and universities, while .gov denotes a government website. these two are usually credible sources for information (though occasionally a university will assign a .edu address to each of its students for personal use, in which case use caution when citing). be careful with the domain .org, because .org is usually used by non-profit organizations which may have an agenda of persuasion rather than education.

site design – this can be very subjective, but a well-designed site can be an indication of more reliable information. good design make information more easily accessible.

writing style – poor spelling and grammar are an indication that the site may not be credible. in an effort to make the information presented easy to understand, credible sites watch writing style closely.