 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,
indivisible,
with liberty and justice for all.
A little history on our current tempest in a teapot*
1892
The pledge, written by socialist editor and clergyman Francis
Bellamy, debuts September 8 in the juvenile periodical The
Youth's Companion. He wants the words to reflect the views
of his cousin, Edward Bellamy, author of "Looking Backward"
and other socialist utopian novels. It reads: "I pledge
allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands;
one nation indivisible, with liberty and Justice for all."
Source: The Associated Press and Encyclopedia Britannica
Inc.
1924
The words "the flag of the United States of America" are
substituted for "my Flag." Fittingly, the change takes place
on Flag Day.
Source: Encyclopedia Britannica Inc.
1942
The government officially recognizes the Pledge of Allegiance.
Source: Encyclopedia Britannica Inc.
1954
Worried that orations used by "godless communists" sound
similar to the Pledge of Allegiance, religious leaders lobby
lawmakers to insert the words "under God" into the pledge.
President Dwight D. Eisenhower, fearing an atomic war between
the U.S. and the Soviet Union, joins the chorus to put God
into the pledge. Congress does what he asks, and the revised
pledge reads: "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."
Source: The Associated Press and Encyclopedia Britannica
Inc.
(from
CNN)
*tempest in a teapot = much ado about nothing
www.vineyard.net/vineyard/history/pledge.htm
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