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On September 8,
1892 a Boston-based youth magazine "The Youth's Companion"
published a 22-word recitation for school children to use during planned
activities the following month to commemorate the 400th anniversary of
Columbus' discovery of America. Under the title "The Pledge to
the Flag", the composition was the earliest version of what we now know
as the PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE. |
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The October 12, 1892 Columbus Day celebration
of the 400th Anniversary of the discovery of America was planned for years in
advance, and anticipated much as modern Americans look forward to and plan
for the advent of a new century. The United States had recovered from
most of the effects of its Civil War that began 30 years earlier, and people
from around the world were flocking to the "Land of
Opportunity". The previous year almost a half million immigrants
had entered the United States through the Barge Office in Battery Park, New
York and on New Years day of 1892 the new Federal Bureau of Receiving's
station at Ellis Island had opened. Two men interested in both education and
planned Columbus Day celebrations around our Nation's 44 states were Francis
Bellamy and James Upham. To this day it is still unknown which of the
two men actually authored the words that were to become the Pledge of
Allegiance. It was published anonymously and not
copyrighted. James Upham was an employee of the Boston publishing
firm that produced "The Youth's Companion" in which it first
appeared. Francis Bellamy was an educator who served as chairman of the
National committee of educators and civic leaders who were planning the
Columbus Day activities. What we do know for certain is that the words
first appeared in the September 8, 1892 issue of "The Youth's
Companion", and a month later more than 12 million school children
recited the words for the first time in schools across the
nation. Our Pledge of Allegiance was born, but like anything new, it
took many years to "reach maturity", and underwent several changes
along the way. That first Pledge of Allegiance read:
After the Columbus Day celebration the Pledge
to the Flag became a popular daily routine in America's public schools, but
gained little attention elsewhere for almost 25 years. Finally, on Flag
Day - June 14, 1923, the Pledge received major attention from adults who had
gathered for the first National Flag Conference in Washington, D.C.
Here their Conference agenda took note of the wording in the Pledge.
There was concern that, with the number of immigrants now living in the
United States, there might be some confusion when the words "My
Flag" were recited. To correct this the pledge was altered to
read:
The
following year the wording was changed again to read:
The Pledge of Allegiance continued to be
recited daily by children in schools across America, and gained heightened
popularity among adults during the patriotic fervor created by World War
II. It still was an "unofficial" pledge until June 22, 1942
when the United States Congress included the Pledge to the Flag in the United
States Flag Code (Title 36). This was the first Official sanction
given to the words that had been recited each day by children for almost
fifty years. One year after receiving this official sanction, the U.S.
Supreme Court ruled that school children could not be forced to recite the
Pledge as part of their daily routine. In 1945 the Pledge to the Flag
received its official title as: The Pledge of
Allegiance The last change in the Pledge of Allegiance
occurred on June 14 (Flag Day), 1954 when President Dwight D. Eisenhower
approved adding the words "under God". As he authorized this
change he said:
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This
was the last change made to the Pledge of Allegiance. The 23 words what
had been initially penned for a Columbus Day celebration now comprised a
Thirty-one profession of loyalty and devotion to not only a flag, but to a
way of life....the American ideal. Those words now read:
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In 1892, 1923, 1924 and 1954 the American
people demonstrated enough concern about the actual words in the Pledge to
make some necessary changes. Today there may be a tendency among many
Americans to recite "by rote" with little thought for the words
themselves. Before continuing with our tour, let's examine these 31
words a little more thoroughly.
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Thus it is that when you Pledge Allegiance to
the United States Flag, You: *Promise your loyalty to the Flag itself. |
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