Pledge of Allegiance Offsite Internet Links Open in New Windows!

Written by Reverend Francis Bellamy in August 1892, this web site claims the author is in dispute, although this web site says it was settled in 1939. Officially recognized by Congress in 1942, in 1943 the Supreme Court ruled students could not be forced to recite the pledge in response to two Jehovah Witness children expelled from school for refusing to cite the pledge. The American Legion and D.A.R. promoted changing the original "my flag" to "the flag of the United States of America" despite the protests of Bellamy. The phrase "under God" was added to the "Pledge of Allegiance" after a push by the Catholic Knights of Columbus organization and signed by President Eisenhower in 1954 in response to the "cold war" with the Godless Soviet Union. In 1955 Congress added the words "In God We Trust" to our paper money. The children of Reverend Francis Bellamy said in 1954 he would have been opposed to adding the words "under God" to his original pledge. A really good Red Skelton audio explains his meaning of the "Pledge of Allegiance". Wikipedia probably has the best up to date pledge history. Religious Tolerance is a Canadian view of the pledge history. It is aggravating to find these pieces all over with no one web site having all of these facts in one place!

An interesting interpretation of this sequence of events, would be I learned the modern 1954 pledge in school, my father and mother learned the 1924 pledge without "under God" and my grandparents would have learned the original 1892 pledge with "my flag" not "the flag of the United States" or without "under God". So if we want to build a monument today, will it be relevant in the future as words and interpretation of what is important changes?

Sign or view my Guestbook