Francis Bellamy, a Baptist minister and socialist, wrote the Pledge of Allegiance in 1892. He saw it as a way to teach school children, many of them immigrants, American values. It became a national institution. The words were tweaked over the years, including adding “under God.” The Supreme Court declared “liberty” includes the right not to say the Pledge of Allegiance at all. It avoided determining the legitimacy of adding “under God.”
The U.S. House of Representatives starts each day, even when it has a brief session of only a few minutes, with the Pledge of Allegiance. Our representatives, like millions of schoolchildren, begin their day with words summarizing our basic civic values.
Origins
I pledge allegiance to my flag and the republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
Francis Bellamy, a Baptist minister and socialist, wrote the Pledge of Allegiance in 1892.
The Youth’s Companion, the country’s largest circulation magazine, published it in honor of the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus’s arrival in the New World. The publication offered a flag to readers who sold subscriptions. The magazine declared it would raise an American flag “over every Public School from the Atlantic to the Pacific” and salute it with an oath.
Bellamy hoped his pledge (solemn promise) could be a way to unify the nation. He supported public education as a way to civilize immigrants and teach them American values.
Meanings
The pledge became popular in both public and private schools.
It was a quick (Bellamy clocked it at fifteen seconds) affirmation of American values. Students were taught to accept the words as second nature. We should, however, read them closely.
The words promote patriotism, a love of one’s country. Many socialists supported unity among nations. The pledge honors allegiance to one.
It also tells us about the nation the flag represents. The United States is a republic.
A system of government in which citizens choose people to represent them. Republics have fundamental rights. Our nation (ideally) promotes liberty and justice for all. Equality under law.
It is one country that is “indivisible.” The Civil War had ended less than thirty years ago. We were now one nation, a nation of immigrants who continued to learn how to be Americans.
Changes
The Pledge of Allegiance and the daily ritual of saying its words have changed over the years.
The original usage of “my flag” was confusing. Some immigrants thought it was a reference to their old nation’s flag. In 1923, the words were changed to “the Flag of the United States” (“of America” was added the next year) to underline that this was a pledge to the American flag.
The original salute involved extending the right arm toward the flag with the hand outstretched. During WWII, this was a tad too much like the Nazi salute. Congress in 1942 officially adopted the pledge and decreed that it should be said with your hand over your heart.
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.
Religious and other groups lobbied Congress to change the words during the Cold War to underline that our nation was not like the godless Soviet Union. Abraham Lincoln included the term “under God” in the Gettysburg Address. President Eisenhower agreed it would be a good addition to the Pledge of Allegiance. The final form of the Pledge was passed in 1954.
West Virginia v. Barnette
Jehovah’s Witnesses take the biblical command not to worship idols very strictly.
They believe that pledging allegiance to the flag is a form of idolatry. Their children could not do so, even if obligated by state law, without dishonoring God.
Two lawsuits, both of which involved case names that misspell the names of the families involved, went all the way to the Supreme Court. The first time, only one justice agreed with the challengers. He heard appeals during WWI of conscientious objectors and had a special concern for religious freedom. After the loss, many Witnesses were physically attacked.
The Supreme Court soon changed its mind. West Virginia v. Barnette (1943) was handed down on Flag Day. Justice Robert Jackson, who later was a prosecutor at Nuremberg to convict war criminals, eloquently spoke about the right not to be compelled to speak against your conscience.
Justice Felix Frankfurter wrote a forlorn dissent. He argued that a mandatory Pledge of Allegiance ritual was an acceptable and necessary means to teach civic values.
Elk Grove v. Newdow
Bellamy was a Baptist and a strong believer in a strong separation of church and state. He opposed non-public schools, wanting all children to be taught together in public schools. His great-granddaughter argued he would have been strongly against the addition of “under God.”
Michael Newdow, an atheist, argued that the government could not officially promote God by using “under God.” It was a violation of the separation of church and state protected by the First Amendment. He argued that the school’s instruction of his daughter to do so interfered with his right to raise his daughter. He rejected the claim that it was a benign “patriotic ritual.”
The Supreme Court avoided deciding the merits. It held that his wife had custody; he did not have “standing” to bring the case. Other lower courts did uphold the practice.
The government can officially support the Pledge of Allegiance, including the words “under God.” Students still have the right to refuse to say them. Some don’t for religious reasons. Others, because they do not believe we truly are a nation that protects equal justice under law.
Their right to refuse honors the “liberty” that Francis Bellamy wrote about so long ago.