What We Say When We Say the Pledge of Allegiance
I hadn’t been in the habit of reciting the Pledge of Allegiance since elementary school, and unless you are a politician, a teacher, or a scout leader, you probably haven’t either.
But a few years ago, I joined the ABQ Speaks Up Toastmasters club and was surprised to find the club says the Pledge of Allegiance at the start of every meeting.
Reciting the Pledge of Allegiance on a regular basis again had me wondering about this peculiar political ritual.
- Where did it come from?
- Who wrote it, and what was it meant to do?
- How has it changed over the years?
Digging into the history, I found that the story of the Pledge of Allegiance was more fascinating, relevant, and touching than I expected. Since its inception in the late 19th century, the Pledge of Allegiance has reflected our feelings as Americans and the way we express our principles.
Where did the Pledge of Allegiance come from?
The Pledge of Allegiance was written in 1892, to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Columbus’s discovery of America.
Back then, many schools did not have a flag. A group of private citizens came up with the idea to install flags in each school, in conjunction with a nationwide ceremony to commemorate the anniversary.
The original intention was to instill in children, especially immigrant children, a sense of patriotic feeling.
The author, Francis Bellamy, wrote the original Pledge of Allegiance as follows:
“I pledge allegiance
To my Flag, and
To the Republic for which it stands –
One Nation indivisible –
with Liberty and Justice for all”
The Pledge packs a lot in a few words. Like any art piece, poem, or advertising jingle, the pledge is a product of the era in which it was written. As Thomas Hoving said,
“The style of the maker is permeated by his own generation. His own time will eventually show in what he does.”
What was that period and what does the pledge show about the author’s concerns?
Why a Pledge?
The term “pledge” recalled the years immediately after the Civil War when Southerners were called upon to pledge to the United States and restore their citizenship.
Nostalgia for the Civil War
Bellamy specifically meant the words, “One nation indivisible” to remind people of the importance of the Union.
In 1892, the Civil War was 27 years in the past, long enough to develop nostalgic memories of the war. George Balch, a Union Colonel, “looked back on ‘the War of Rebellion’ as a time of tremendous patriotism, self-sacrifice, and national unity… which was threatened by the huge influx of immigrants to whom the patriotic sacrifices of the Civil War meant little”. (Ellis)
Fear of Immigrants
Americans back then were afraid immigrants were going to take over. Over 5 million immigrants arrived in the 1880s, twice as many as in the previous twenty years (Ellis)
The organizers of the 1892 celebration hoped a daily pledge of allegiance would indoctrinate patriotic sentiments in the new immigrants.
Ironically, considering the waves of antagonism, violence, and legal challenges that followed as pledge spread across the nation, you could argue that it divided rather than unified the country.
Resistance to the Pledge of Allegiance
The first objections to the Pledge began in the 1910s and 20s.
- 1911, New Jersey. A 12-year old British subject refused to say the Pledge
- 1912, New Jersey. A teenaged Canadian boy refused to say the Pledge
- 1916, Illinois. An 11-year old black student refused to say the Pledge because he felt it stood for burning and lynching
- 1918, Ohio. A 9 year old Mennonite girl refused to say the Pledge
- 1925, Washington. A 9 year old Elijiah Voice Society boy rejected the flag on the grounds that “patriotism tends toward militarism and war”. The boy was separated from his parents for two years
- 1926, Colorado. Jehovites protest “idol worship”, 50 students kept out of school
- 1928, Delaware. 38 Mennonites expelled from school for refusing to say the Pledge
Refusals and violent reactions intensified in the 30s and 40s:
- In 1935, an eight year old Massachusetts Jehovah’s Witness called the flag “the Devil’s emblem”
- The next year in Pennsylvania, a ten year old student was whipped, a twelve year old was hit and thrown against a desk, a principal whipped and choked a thirteen year old girl and her twelve year old sister was whipped and threatened with reform school
- That year, 134 children in 11 states were expelled for refusing to recite the Pledge
- A Georgia student who refused to salute the flag suffered when the Ku Klux Klan boycotted, picketed, and ruined his father’s business. Same with a Jehovah’s witness family in Ohio. These cases often made their way to court along with the assistance of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) but the courts ruled against them
- In 1939, a West Virginian sheriff’s deputy rounded up and roped Jehovah’s Witnesses like cattle, then marched them out of town
- In 1940, an Illinois mob attacked a group of 60 Jehovah’s Witnesses and forced them to salute the flag. When they refused to do so, the mob slammed a man’s head against his car and then trashed the car so bad the cars were undriveable. They also burned the Witnesses’ Kingdom Hall in another town after widespread rioting
One reason for the increased violence: In 1940, the Supreme Court ruled that public schools could force students to salute the Flag. The Supreme Court reversed this decision in 1943, but not before thousands of Jehovah’s Witness schoolchildren had been expelled. (Minersville vs Gobitis)
Wording Adjustments
A few years after the pledge was introduced, people began to feel that if immigrants said “I pledge allegiance to my flag”, they might in their mind be pledging to the flag of their original country, or some other flag. So in 1923 and 1924, they specified “the flag of the United States” and “of America”.
More Wording Adjustments
The part about “under God” was not in the original pledge. In 1954, President Eisenhower heard a sermon advocating the addition, and with 70% public approval, federal legislators from both parties filed 18 resolutions supporting the addition.
Over the years, refusals to salute the flag and challenges to the pledge continued, even as world events such as wars or terrorist attacks brought on renewed interest in flying the flag and repeating the pledge.
Which is more patriotic, to recite the Pledge or to protest the reciting of the Pledge?
Today, continuing the tradition of political and social resistance around public displays of patriotism, professional.football players are kneeling during the National Anthem to protest police violence.
Meanwhile, in our weekly Toastmasters meeting, we continue to recite the Pledge.
Why do we do it? The Pledge of Allegiance is not an official component of Toastmasters International.
This club was originally chartered in 2007 as part of Technology Ventures Corporation, a now-dissolved non-profit associated with Lockheed Martin Corporation and Sandia National Labs.
11 years later, Toastmasters@TVC is now ABQ Speaks Up Toastmasters Club and is no longer affiliated with the military. We meet in downtown Albuquerque and the club consists mainly of mid-career leaders and entrepreneurs.
I joined Toastmasters to become a better public speaker, and I don’t think that reciting the Pledge of Allegiance every week helps me achieve that goal. I think we should stop reciting the Pledge before our club meetings.
If you want to encourage a group vocal warm up exercise, why not recite the Toastmasters mission statement:
“To provide a mutually supportive and positive learning environment in which every individual member has the opportunity to develop oral communication and leadership skills, which in turn foster self-confidence and personal growth.”
On second thought, never mind. The Pledge of Allegiance is shorter.