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The cultural and political history of the Pledge of Allegiance, how it came to be, what it means to Americans, and why we have battled over it for generations For more than a century, reciting the Pledge of Allegiance has been a central part of the American Experience. And perhaps because of its ubiquity, this simple flag salute has served not only as a unifying ritual but also as a lightning rod for bitter controversy. Congress's 1954 decision to add "under God" to the Pledge has made it the focus of three U.S. Supreme Court cases and at least one other landmark appellate decision. The debate continues today, but along with it exists a widely held admiration and support for this simple affirmation of our shared patriotism. As Jeffrey Owen Jones and Peter Meyer show in their illuminating history, this brief salute to the flag has had an almost magical power to galvanize people's deepest feelings and beliefs about who we are and ought to be as a nation. In that sense, the story of the Pledge of Allegiance is the story of America and the American people.… (more)
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The first change to the Pledge was in 1923 when the words “my flag” was changed to “the flag of the United States of America.” At this time of great numbers of immigrants moving to the United States, the National Flag Conference wanted it to be clear that the Pledge was to only one country. In the heyday of the Cold War, another change was made in 1954 to add the phrase “under God.”
It is ironic that a symbol designed to unite has the dual role of causing so many divisions. That a symbol of liberty and freedom could be mandated and forced upon people was not lost on many, including the Supreme Court. While the Court ruled in 1940 that students could be compelled to say the Pledge, they later overturned this decision in 1943. Eloquently stated in the dissenting opinion, Justice Robert Jackson stated:
“To believe that patriotism will not flourish if patriotic ceremonies are voluntary and spontaneous instead of a compulsory routine is to make an unflattering estimate of the appeal of our institutions to free minds" (p. 187).
The Pledge of Allegiance remains controversial, particularly regarding mandatory recitation and what that says about patriotism. “For it is in that quarrel and uncensored debate that we find the essence of our democracy and the health of our republic” (p. 188).