The Pledge of Allegiance — Not What You Think

The original pledge was written by a socialist and made no mention of God

It is ironic that the Pledge of Allegiance is used to represent freedom, often against socialism, when it was in fact a socialist that penned the pledge in 1892 by Francis Bellamy. “The Pledge of Allegiance was written in August of 1892 by Francis Bellamy, a Baptist minister and ardent proponent of what he called Christian Socialism.” He taught that the true meaning of the gospel was socialism and that America needed to adopt it as soon as possible if it was to survive into the modern era. He frequently delivered sermons with titles such as Jesus the Socialist and The Socialism of the Primitive Church.” (McDaniel). In fact, Bellamy was going to use the words equality and fraternity instead of liberty and justice. Why did he choose against his first inclination? That would be because the word equality would imply that women and African Americans deserved equal rights.

The pledge was published in The Youth’s Companion, a magazine for children. The first published pledge read:

“I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”

Bellamy was a Baptist minister but the pledge does not mention “God”. He thought any country could use the pledge as well because it was generic and does not mention a country.

Citizens did not originally place their hand over their hearts when they recited the pledge. Instead they began reciting the pledge with a military salute that let into holding out their hand to the flag.

President Benjamin Harrison used the Pledge in the honor of the four hundredth anniversary of Christopher Columbus’s discovery of America. (He was persuaded and convinced to do so by Bellamy and his friends) “On October 12, 1892, millions of schoolchildren across the country recited the Pledge as part of the ceremony.” (McDaniel).

The magazine had asked Bellamy to write the pledge. They then lobbied for the pledge to be included in the 1892 ceremony. The schools would be included in the pledge. Therefore, schools would have to buy flags. Not coincidentally, the magazine sold flags. This may be the most epic multi-marketing campaign in history.

Bellamy added the word “to” before the word “Republic”. The salute was replaced with putting one’s right hand over the heart but would still raise their hands towards the flag after the words “the flag”.

The National Flag Conference was presided over by the Daughters of the American Revolution. In 1923 they changed the words my Flag to the Flag of the United States. They did not want children confused to what flag they pledging allegiance to, specifically immigrants. They did not want them to think they were pledging to their home country. “The following year, the Flag Conference further revised the phrase, clarifying that it was the United States of America, to prevent any confusion with the other United States.” (McDaniel).

50 years later in 1942 the United States Congress declared the pledge the official Pledge of Allegiance. During World War II, it was changed that when you said the pledge you kept your hands over your heart during the entirety of the pledge because the previous way looked to much like saluting Hitler.

In 1943 the US Supreme Court ruled that school children cannot be forced to recite the pledge. “West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette, 319 U.S. 624 (1943), is a landmark decision by the United States Supreme Court holding that the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment protects students from being forced to salute the American flag or say the Pledge of Allegiance in public school.”

“Under God” was added in 1954 during the Red Scare. “The change was made as the result of a request by the Presbyterian minister George MacPherson Docherty and extensive lobbying conducted by the Knights of Columbus, a Catholic fraternity. It was an overt attempt to distinguish the United States as a Christian nation in direct opposition to the “godless heathenry” of the ultimate atheistic bogeyman: the Soviet Union.” (McDaniel).

“In June 2002, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco declared the entire Pledge of Allegiance unconstitutional because of its inclusion of the phrase “under God.” The court held that the phrase violated the First Amendment’s guarantee of separation of church and state. However, the next day, 9th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Alfred Goodwin, issued a stay that prevented enforcement of the ruling.” (Longley).

We are made to believe that the Pledge of Allegiance represents our individual freedom and that we are Christian nation. It is very ironic that the original pledge was written by a socialist and “under God” was not put into the pledge 52 years after the pledge was written. Furthermore, the first time the Supreme Court ruled that children could not be forced to say the pledge was in 1943. Quite a different story that people want you to believe today.

Resources

Rao, Sonia. “Our Pledge of Allegiance? It was introduced as a way to sell U.S. flags” Sept. 5, 2017, The Washington Post.

McDaniel, View All Posts By Spencer Alexander. “The Pledge of Allegiance Was Actually Written by a Socialist.” Tales of Times Forgotten, 7 July 2017, talesoftimesforgotten.com/2017/07/07/the-pledge-of-allegiance-was-actually-written-by-a-socialist.

Longley, Robert. “Why Americans Once Gave the ‘Bellamy Salute’.” ThoughtCo, Feb. 11, 2020, thoughtco.com/why-americans-gave-the-bellamy-salute-3322328.

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