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The Pledge of Allegiance
I Pledge Allegiance to the flag of the
United States of America
and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God,
indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
History of The Pledge of
Allegiance
On September 8,1892, the Boston based "The
Youth's Companion" magazine published a few words for students to
repeat on Columbus Day that year. Written by Francis Bellamy, the
circulation manager and native of Rome, New York, and reprinted on
thousands of leaflets, was sent out to public schools across the country.
On October 12, 1892, the quadric-centennial of Columbus' arrival, more
than 12 million children recited the Pledge of Allegiance, thus beginning
a required school-day ritual.
At the first National Flag Conference in Washington
D.C., on June14, 1923, a change was made. For clarity, the words "the
Flag of the United States" replaced "my flag". In the
following years various other changes were suggested but were never
formally adopted.
It was not until 1942 that Congress officially
recognized the Pledge of Allegiance. One year later, in June 1943, the
Supreme Court ruled that school children could not be forced to recite it.
Today only half of our fifty states have laws that encourage the
recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance in the classroom!
In June of 1954 an amendment was made to add the
words "under God". Then-President Dwight D. Eisenhower said
"In this way we are reaffirming the transcendence of religious faith
in America's heritage and future; in this way we shall constantly
strengthen those spiritual weapons which forever will be our country's
most powerful resource in peace and war."
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