American Flags of Freedom

Posts Tagged ‘a pledge of allegiance’

It was a Baptist minister and Christian Socialist named Francis Bellamy who wrote the original Pledge of Allegiance on 1892. He wanted to express his ideas to Edward Bellamy who was the author to American socialist to the utopian novels entitled Looking Backward and Equality written in 1888 and 1897 respectively. Both of them discussed how the middle class can make equality in terms of political, social and economic aspect, thus there would be a planned economy.

It was September 8 when the Pledge was published on the leading family magazine – The Youth’s Companion. Daniel Ford, the owner and editor of the magazine hired Francis Bellamy in 1891 as his assistant then he later on founded the controversial Ford Hall Forum in downtown Boston.

The following year, Francis Bellamy became chairman of a committee of state superintendents of education and he was the one who organized the program of quadricentennial celebration for Columbus Day of public schools. From then on, the 'Pledge of Allegiance’ has been part of flag raising ceremonies and flag salute in public school programs.

The original pledge was:

'I pledge allegiance to my Flag and (to*) the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.'

The word ‘equality’ was not included because during that time, the state superintendents of education were not in favor of equality for women and African Americans.

Those words now read:

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.