On October 12, 1892, the pledge of allegiance was first recited across the nation by thousands of children and adults as part of the first ever Columbus Day celebration. It was slightly shorter than the pledge we know today, and wasn’t mandated or controversial by any measure. The pledge, and the accompanying flag ceremonies, were the result of a concerted effort undertaken by a group of newspapermen from Massachusetts to induce positive patriotism in a country where it was fading.
Francis Bellamy was a writer at The Youth’s Companion, a youth-centered variety publication based out of Boston. In the early 1890’s Bellamy and his colleagues noted the grim state of patriotism in America. He argued that people were distracted from properly honoring their nation and “big business enterprises following the mental activity of the Civil War were bewildering people's thoughts. Railroads, steel, oil, and other monopolies, with new waterings of stock, filled the imagination.” They sought to correct this recession of American nationalism through a campaign targeted at their youthful readers that would ignite a renewed sense of pride in their country.
The campaign began with the distribution of American flags to children and classrooms around the nation. Advertised exclusively in The Youth Companion, children could send in a ten-cent piece and receive a flag in return. Things went very well and within a year, due to widespread interest from both students and their teachers, it is estimated that over thirty thousand flags were distributed around the country by the intrepid newspapermen. They were pleased with their efforts, but felt their project was incomplete without properly describing a way to uniformly celebrate the flag and what it stood for.
Bellamy and his colleagues went back to work and elected to craft a recitation that could be repeated as the flag was raised every morning. It would have to be short, memorable, and timeless, all while reflecting national history and being simple enough for children to understand and recite. Bellamy took on the task, and chose his words carefully. He selected “allegiance” as it was a buzzword of national pride during the Civil War, and was sure to highlight the unification of the country by including “one nation” and “indivisible.” He emerged with the following:
“I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”
With the national celebration of the 400th anniversary of Columbus’ discovery of America looming (disregarding the fact that Columbus never actually set foot on the American continent and claimed until the day he died that he had explored the far east), Bellamy and company printed their pledge in the September 8th edition of The Youth’s Companion with instructions to their readers to incorporate it into their Columbus Day routines. America heeded their call and the pledge was recited around the country that day, and then quickly became a daily tradition in schools and places of work.
You may note that this original pledge bears only a resemblance to the one recited today. It has undergone certain additions over the years by groups hoping to make it a more declarative proclamation. In the 1920’s the National Flag Conference, fearful that immigrants were only feigning their allegiance to the American flag while actually harboring favor for that of another nation, elucidated the pledge to say “I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America.” In the 1950’s, as part of the religious fervor that added “In God We Trust” to our currency, Congress approved the addition of the pledge’s most controversial line: “under God.” In the 1940's, the recommended flag salute was changed specifically to avoid controversy. Bellamy had included instructions for an arm motion where children would raise their right hand straight out and slightly above shoulder-level. With the rise of the Nazi party and their similar salute, it was decided that Americans should honor their flag by simply placing their hands over their hearts. And while the pledge has changed over the years and become a source of national conversation and even conflict at times, it stands as one of the most enduring bouts of grassroots patriotism this country has seen.
