The Guild 6-27-2002 The History of Our Pledge of Allegiance

6-27-2002

[BigWaveBetty]

The Pledge of Allegiance

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.

The October 11, 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:

I pledge allegiance to my Flag,
and to the Republic for which it stands:
one Nation indivisible,
With Liberty and Justice for all.

October 11, 1892

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:

I pledge allegiance to my the
Flag of the United States,
and to the Republic for which it stands:
one Nation indivisible,
With Liberty and Justice for all.

June 14, 1923

The following year the wording was changed again to read:

I pledge allegiance to the Flag
of the United States of America,
and to the Republic for which it stands:
one Nation indivisible,
With Liberty and Justice for all.

June 14, 1924

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:

"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."

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:

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.

June 14, 1954

The Pledge of Allegiance
by Red Skelton
January 14, 1969

Click the flag to hear Red Skelton's entire speech.

The First Amendment to the United States Constitution

Amendment I Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

ALL PREVIOUS THREADS

[texasbluebell]

Which photo was that of W? Describe it to me, what clothes, etc., maybe I have it. But to me, a lot of his photos look GQ!

[retrokitten]

I found it. I remembered Cheneychick has it on her homepage.

[lodwick]

Good grief - no codebreaker?

[Carolina]

Someone linked the Guild on the argumentative thread about the Enquirer's story hinting at Elizabeth's family's supposed lifestyle.

I hope code's just been given a time out and that he's not sent to Outer Mongolia.

[retrokitten]

In honor of the last episode of "Politically Incorrect" tonight check out this interview from the Hollywood Reporter and Bill Mahar. Link He's such jerk.

Here's a sample...

THR: What messages were you getting from the network after Sept. 17?

Maher: There were no messages. After 9/17, it was like I didn't really exist anymore. We went from very few promotions to none. Like we were some sort of mistress who they were still keeping in an apartment but they didn't want anybody to know about. Which was a shame because there was nothing ever to be ashamed of. In fact, they should have been more proud of the show than ever.

THR: Before Sept. 17, had the network ever asked you to tone down your opinions?

Maher: Yes. There were four or five times. I don't want to go through the things I said because I don't want to dig up all the old graves. But yeah, there were times. They didn't say it directly, but they told my producers, and my producers said to me, "They really think that that was inappropriate." And I was like, "Well, I'm sorry, I don't mean to make anybody's job harder, but that's my belief, and I'm gonna have to say the things that I believe." That's sort of the show they bought, and I guess they thought I was kidding with that title when they bought the show. But I wasn't kidding.

[Aggie Mama]

Oh wow. Be still my heart. What a doll!

[lodwick]

I hope so also - I don't think that I know
Elizabeth, but I'm sure that she's a good girl.

Come back and play codebreaker.
Contributing more to Free Republic is a great way to start.

Bandwidth and porn are costly endeavors.

[Endeavor]

Hey T,

So good to hear you are holding up. We are all praying daily for Billy. Thank you for the update. - E

[Iowa Granny]

The Guild is sort of quiet tonite. Not much activity on the Bring Billy Home site, either. Wonder where everyone is.

I was driven from my own garden by mosquitos with wing spans like B-52's. I held my ground too long,, now I'm itching like crazy.

[Endeavor]

Yup, it's like a tomb. I had the day from h*ll in airports today and got in tonight only to find that my cable wasn't working and I'm w/o it for the weekend. Arghhh! I'm such a news junkie that I'm not sure I can handle the withdrawal.

Trying to remember how much I used to enjoy a week in the north woods of Minnesooooooooota, away from most things electronic, I've started making a list of books I want to start this weekend. I'll have plenty of time for that.

When you get done in your garden, why don't you head over here and take a stroll through mine? I'll supply the iced tea and bug bomb. The fireflies are out - I just love them.

If you haven't read Peggy Noonan's article today, run over to opinionjournal.com and catch it. It's really excellent.

[JudyB1938]

I know you're heartbroken (no codebreaker). haha

[Timeout]

... I'm itching like crazy.

Rub each mosquito bite with a bar of soap...dry, not wet. The itch will go away within minutes. Good Luck!

Yeah, it's really quiet tonight. I've been to bride parties today....neice is getting married tomorrow. It's going to be a family reunion. So I won't be around the rest of the weekend.

Prayers for President Bush with his ,ahem, procedure. (For a few short minutes we're going to have President Cheney....sounds pretty good, huh?)

[Timeout]

I couldn't believe it when I saw ole Fred. LOL! How could I have ever forgotten that freakin' cat?

[MaeWest]

Have been gone for a few days and was stunned to come back and hear of your situation. My thoughts and prayers are for your family.

[Iowa Granny]

Good Morning. Hot and Humid here today. The skies are hazy due to the smoke from CO forest fires arriving here.

[BigWaveBetty]

Here I am! Sorry I didn't get back yesterday. I was so tired after I got back from my grandbaby visit and then picking up our son from school (requires sitting in the car in the parking lot for 45 min in the sweltering heat) I had to take a nap. Then the thuderstorms started.

I can't believe codebreaker is a NCFBTN! I hope it's just temporary. Come home codebreaker!

I must tell you all about my ganddaughter... She's the world's smallest bag lady. :-) So all most of you know I have a large hole in my back yard that used to be a pool. Now it's a pond, since we've had all that rain it might need to be drained again. But anyhoo, so we are now the proud parents of thousands of tadpoles. I took some of the tadpoles over to my granddaughter so she could see science in action. We needed some more pond water to fill the tank so we decided to take a walk down to the retention pond.

My daughter dresses the baby but grandbaby puts on the finishing touches... Two pair of underware on her head held on with a multicolored heart necklace and one pink shoe and one blue. Now for the shopping cart, in the cart we have Pooh with his very own underware hat (she put her prized Power Puff Girl undies on Pooh) and of course pearls. The empty Sprite bottle (for pond water) and a bottle of drinking water and a few misc. items.

My daughter just looked at me with that, good greif was I this weird look? We toddled on down the street and it was all I could do not to laugh the whole way.

It's great to be a grandma, just the revenge alone is worth all the "fun" as a parent! :-)

New thread coming up in a couple of hours.

[mountaineer]

I was hoping you'd add that you also had underwear on your head, just for the fun of it.

[Aggie Mama]

I forget who is using the Bare Minerals, but I noticed on QVC this morning, they are doing the demonstrations. I've been using them for about 2 weeks and I have to say that I just love them. It took me about a week to get the right amount on the brush and to get the blending correct, but now it looks just great and is so easy.

[mountaineer]

Bill Clinton and Queen Noor travel together to Columbia, thread here.

[BigWaveBetty]

I'm fun but it was too darn hot yesterday. I hope I get to wear the Power Puff Girls panties next time!

Looks like the Tipster has been indulging in some Tennessee BBQ. These two just get dweebier and dweebier!

Former Vice President Al Gore and his wife Tipper Gore stroll down the alley in front of the Peabody Hotel in Memphis, Tenn. on Friday night, June 28, 2002. Gore is hosting a weekend retreat this weekend in Memphis with fund-raisers and party activists from across the country. (AP Photo/Greg Campbell)

Al... quit with the polo shirts! Or at the very least invest in a Manssiere.