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Signing of the United States Constitution
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Not to be confused with Howard Chandler Christy's painting Scene at the Signing of the Constitution of the United States.
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The Signing of the United States Constitution occurred on September 17, 1787, at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, when 39 delegates to the Constitutional Convention, representing 12 states (all but Rhode Island, which declined to send delegates), endorsed the Constitution created during the four-month-long convention. In addition to signatures, this endorsement, the Constitution's eschatocol, included a brief declaration that the delegates’ work has been successfully completed and that those whose signatures appear on it subscribe to the final document. Included are, a statement pronouncing the document's adoption by the states present, a formulaic dating of its adoption, along with the signatures of those endorsing it. Additionally, the convention's secretary, William Jackson, signed the document to authenticate the validity of the delegate signatures. He also made a few secretarial notes.
The language of the concluding endorsement, conceived by Gouverneur Morris and presented to the convention by Benjamin Franklin, was made intentionally ambiguous in hopes of winning over the votes of dissenting delegates. Advocates for the new frame of government, realizing the impending difficulty of obtaining the consent of the states needed for it to become operational, were anxious to obtain the unanimous support of the delegations from each state. It was feared that many of the delegates would refuse to give their individual assent to the Constitution. Therefore, in order that the action of the Convention would appear to be unanimous, the formula, Done in convention by the unanimous consent of the states present ... was devised.
The U.S. Constitution lays out the frame of the nation's federal government and delineates how its 3 branches (legislative, executive, and judicial) are to function. Of those who signed it, virtually every one had taken part in the American Revolution; seven had signed the Declaration of Independence, and thirty had served on active military duty. In general, they represented a cross-section of 18th-century American leadership, with individuals having experience in local or colonial and state government. Jonathan Dayton, age 26, was the youngest to sign the Constitution, while Benjamin Franklin, age 81, was the oldest.[1]
Contents
[hide]
1 Text
2 Background
3 About the endorsement
4 About the signers
5 Accompanying documents
6 See also
7 References
8 External links
Text[edit]
Done in convention by the unanimous consent of the states present the seventeenth day of September in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty seven and of the independence of the United States of America the twelfth. In witness whereof We have hereunto subscribed our Names,
George Washington—President and deputy from Virginia
Delaware { {\displaystyle {\begin{cases}\\\\\\\\\\\end{cases}}} George Read
Gunning Bedford, Jr.
John Dickinson
Richard Bassett
Jacob Broom
Maryland { {\displaystyle {\begin{cases}\\\\\\\end{cases}}} James McHenry
Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer
Daniel Carroll
Virginia { {\displaystyle {\begin{cases}\\\\\end{cases}}} John Blair
James Madison
North Carolina { {\displaystyle {\begin{cases}\\\\\\\end{cases}}} William Blount
Richard Dobbs Spaight
Hugh Williamson
South Carolina { {\displaystyle {\begin{cases}\\\\\\\\\end{cases}}} John Rutledge
Charles Cotesworth Pinckney
Charles Pinckney
Pierce Butler
Georgia { {\displaystyle {\begin{cases}\\\\\end{cases}}} William Few
Abraham Baldwin
New Hampshire { {\displaystyle {\begin{cases}\\\\\end{cases}}} John Langdon
Nicholas Gilman
Massachusetts { {\displaystyle {\begin{cases}\\\\\end{cases}}} Nathaniel Gorham
Rufus King
Connecticut { {\displaystyle {\begin{cases}\\\\\end{cases}}} William Samuel Johnson
Roger Sherman
New York { {\displaystyle {\begin{cases}\\\end{cases}}} Alexander Hamilton
New Jersey { {\displaystyle {\begin{cases}\\\\\\\\\end{cases}}} William Livingston
David Brearly
William Paterson
Jonathan Dayton
Pennsylvania { {\displaystyle {\begin{cases}\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\end{cases}}} Benjamin Franklin
Thomas Mifflin
Robert Morris
George Clymer
Thomas FitzSimons
Jared Ingersoll
James Wilson
Gouverneur Morris
The closing endorsement section of the United States Constitution

The Word "the", being interlined between
the seventh and eighth Lines of the first
Page, The Word "Thirty" being partly written
on an Erazure in the fifteenth Line of the first
Page. The Words "is tried" being interlined
between the thirty second and thirty third
Lines of the first Page and the Word "the"
being interlined between the forty third and
forty fourth Lines of the second Page.
Attest
William Jackson Secretary
Background[edit]
Scene at the Signing of the Constitution of the United States, by Howard Chandler Christy
On July 24, 1787 convention delegates selected a Committee of Detail to write-up a draft constitution reflective of the resolutions passed by the convention up to that point.[2] The final report of this committee, a twenty-three article (plus a preamble) document, became the first draft of the constitution. Overall, the draft produced by the committee conformed to the resolutions adopted by the Convention, though some portions were rephrased during the process.[3]
Even after it issued this report, the committee continued to meet off and on until early September. The draft constitution was discussed, section by section and clause by clause. Details were attended to, and further compromises were effected.[2][4]
On September 8, 1787, a Committee of Style, with different members, was impaneled to distill a final draft constitution from the twenty-three approved articles.[2] The final draft, presented to the convention on September 12, contained seven articles, a preamble, and a closing statement, cleverly written by Gouverneur Morris so as to make the constitution seem unanimous.[5][6] The committee also presented a proposed letter to accompany the constitution when delivered to the Congress of the Confederation.[7]
The final document, engrossed by Jacob Shallus,[8] was taken up on Monday, September 17, at the Convention's final session. Several delegates were disappointed by the numerous compromises contained in the final document, believing that they had impaired its quality.
Alexander Hamilton called the Constitution a "weak and worthless fabric", certain to be superseded. Luther Martin regarded it as a stab in the back of the goddess of liberty. The most that Madison and the majority of delegates hoped, was that this practical, workable constitution, planned to meet the immediate needs of thirteen states with approximately four million people, would last a generation.[6]
In all, twelve of the thirteen states sent delegates to the Constitutional Convention; a total of 74 were named, 55 attended and 39 signed.[5] Several attendees left before the signing ceremony, and three that did not refused to sign. Benjamin Franklin summed up the sentiments of those who did sign, stating: "There are several parts of this Constitution which I do not at present approve, but I am not sure I shall never approve them." He would accept the Constitution, "because I expect no better and because I am not sure that it is not the best".[9]
About the endorsement[edit]
Gouverneur Morris, author of the Constitution's closing endorsement
The closing endorsement of the U.S. Constitution serves an authentication function only. It neither assigns powers to the federal government nor does it provide specific limitations on government action. It does however, provide essential documentation of the Constitution's validity, a statement of "This is what was agreed to." It records who signed the Constitution, plus when and where they signed. It also describes the role played by the signers in developing the document. Due to this limited function, it is frequently overlooked and no court has ever cited it when reaching a judicial decision.
On the final day of the Constitutional Convention, Benjamin Franklin delivered an address (read by James Wilson) strongly endorsing the Constitution despite any perceived imperfections. Hoping to gain the support of critics and create a sense of common accord, Franklin then proposed, and the convention agreed, that the Constitution be endorsed by the delegates as individual witnesses of the unanimous consent of the states present. Thus the signers subscribed their names as witnesses to what was done in convention (rather than on the part and behalf of particular states, as they had in the Articles of Confederation). The signers’ names are, with the exception of Convention President George Washington, grouped by state, with the listing of states arraigned geographically, from north to south.[10]
About the signers[edit]
Seventy-four individuals were selected to attend the Constitutional Convention, but a number of them could not attend or chose not to attend. In all, fifty-five delegates participated in the convention, though thirteen of them dropped out, either for personal reasons in protest over decisions made during the deliberations. Three individuals remained engaged in the work of the convention until its completion, but then refused to sign the final draft.[11]
The names of thirty-nine delegates are inscribed upon the proposed constitution. Among them is John Dickinson, who, indisposed by illness, authorized George Read to sign his name by proxy. Additionally, the convention's secretary, William Jackson, while not himself a delegate, signed the document to authenticate the results of the Convention's sessions and the signatures. George Washington, as president of the Convention, signed first, followed by the other delegates, grouped by states in progression from north to south. Washington, however, signed near the right margin of the page, and when the delegates ran out of space they began a second column of signatures to the left.[1]
Jonathan Dayton, aged 26, was the youngest to sign the Constitution, while Benjamin Franklin, aged 81, was the oldest. Franklin was also the first signer to die, in April 1790, while James Madison was the last, dying in June 1836. Virtually every signer had taken part in the Revolution; at least 29 had served in the Continental forces, most of them in positions of command. All but seven were native to the thirteen colonies: Pierce Butler, Thomas Fitzsimons, James McHenry, and William Paterson were born in Ireland, Robert Morris in England, James Wilson in Scotland, and Alexander Hamilton in the West Indies.[12]
Independence Hall's Assembly Room, where both the Constitution and Declaration of Independence were debated and signed.
The Syng inkstand, used at the signing of the Constitution and, eleven years earlier, the Declaration of Independence.
Accompanying documents[edit]
When the Constitutional Convention adjourned on September 17, 1787 William Jackson was ordered to carry the Constitution to Congress in New York City. He also carried two letters with him. One was a resolution, adopted by the delegates, that the recommendation of the Constitutional Convention be received by Congress and distributed to the states, for their approval or disapproval. The other was written by George Washington, on behalf of the delegates, to the President of the Continental Congress, Arthur St. Clair, regarding the proposed Constitution.
[show]Resolution to the Continental Congress
IN CONVENTION
Monday September 17. 1787
PRESENT
The States of New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Mr. Hamilton from New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia.
RESOLVED
THAT the preceding Constitution be laid before the United States in Congress assembled, and that it is the Opinion of this Convention, that it should afterwards be submitted to a Convention of Delegates, chosen in each State by the People thereof, under the Recommendation of its Legislature, for their Assent and Ratification; and that each Convention assenting to, and ratifying the Same, should give Notice thereof to the United States in Congress assembled.
Resolved, That it is the Opinion of this Convention, that as soon as the Conventions of nine States shall have ratified this Constitution, the United States in Congress assembled should fix a Day on which Electors should be appointed by the States which shall have ratified the same, and a Day on which the Electors should assemble to vote for the President, and the Time and place for commencing Proceedings under this Constitution. That after such Publication the Electors should be appointed, and the Senators and Representatives elected: That the Electors should meet on the Day fixed for the Election of the President, and should transmit their votes certified signed, sealed and directed, as the Constitution requires, to the Secretary of the United States in Congress assembled, that the Senators and Representatives should convene at the Time and Place assigned; that the Senators should appoint a President of the Senate, for the sole Purpose of receiving, opening and counting the Votes for President; and, that after he shall be chosen, the Congress, together with the President, should, without Delay, proceed to execute this Constitution.
By the Unanimous Order of the Convention,
GEORGE WASHINGTON President.
William Jackson Secretary[13]
[show]Letter to the President of the Continental Congress
IN CONVENTION,
September 17, 1787.
Sir, We have now the honor to submit to the consideration of the United States in Congress assembled, that Constitution which has appeared to us the most advisable.
The friends of our country have long seen and desired, that the power of making war, peace and treaties, that of levying money and regulating commerce, and the correspondent executive and judicial authorities should be fully and effectually vested in the general government of the Union: but the impropriety of delegating such extensive trust to one body of men is evident—Hence results the necessity of a different organization.
It is obviously impracticable in the federal government of these States, to secure all rights of independent sovereignty to each, and yet provide for the interest and safety of all—Individuals entering into society, must give up a share of liberty to preserve the rest. The magnitude of the sacrifice must depend as well on situation and circumstance, as on the object to be obtained. It is at all times difficult to draw with precision the line between those rights which must be surrendered, and those which may be reserved; and on the present occasion this difficulty was increased by a difference among the several States as to their situation, extent, habits, and particular interests.
In all our deliberations on this subject we kept steadily in our view, that which appears to us the greatest interest of every true American, the consolidation of our Union, in which is involved our prosperity, felicity, safety, perhaps our national existence. This important consideration, seriously and deeply impressed on our minds, led each State in the Convention to be less rigid on points of inferior magnitude, than might have been otherwise expected; and thus the Constitution, which we now present, is the result of a spirit of amity, and of that mutual deference and concession which the peculiarity of our political situation rendered indispensable.
That it will meet the full and entire approbation of every State is not perhaps to be expected; but each will doubtless consider, that had her interest alone been consulted, the consequences might have been particularly disagreeable or injurious to others; that it is liable to as few exceptions as could reasonably have been expected, we hope and believe; that it may promote the lasting welfare of that country so dear to us all, and secure her freedom and happiness, is our most ardent wish.
With great respect,
We have the honor to be.
SIR,
Your Excellency's most
Obedient and humble Servants,
GEORGE WASHINGTON, PRESIDENT.
By unanimous Order of the Convention.[13]
See also[edit]
America's Critical Period
Constitution Day (United States)
Founding Fathers of the United States
References[edit]
^ Jump up to: a b Wright, Jr., Robert K.; MacGregor, Jr., Morris J. (1987). "Soldier-Statesmen of the Constitution". Army historical series. Washington, D.C.: Center of Military History, United States Army. pp. 33–45. Retrieved March 3, 2014.
^ Jump up to: a b c "Committees at the Constitutional Convention". U.S. Constitution Online. Retrieved April 16, 2016.
Jump up ^ "Madison Debates August 6". The Avalon Project at Yale Law School. Retrieved April 16, 2016.
Jump up ^ "Committee Assignments Chart and Commentary". Ashland, Ohio: TeachingAmericanHistory.org. Retrieved April 16, 2016.
^ Jump up to: a b "America's Founding Fathers-Delegates to the Constitutional Convention". The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration. Retrieved April 16, 2016.
^ Jump up to: a b Morison, Samuel Eliot (1965). The Oxford History of the American People. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 311.
Jump up ^ "Madison Debates September 12". The Avalon Project at Yale Law School. Retrieved April 16, 2016.
Jump up ^ Vile, John R. (2005). The Constitutional Convention of 1787: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of America's Founding (Volume 1: A-M). ABC-CLIO. p. 705. ISBN 1-85109-669-8. Retrieved October 21, 2015.
Jump up ^ "Madison Debates September 15". The Avalon Project at Yale Law School. Retrieved April 16, 2016.
Jump up ^ Spaulding, Matthew. "Attestation Clause". The Heritage Foundation. Retrieved July 16, 2016.
Jump up ^ http://www.usconstitution.net/constnotes.html#Sigs
Jump up ^ "The Founding Fathers: Delegates to the Constitutional Convention". National Archives and Records Administration. Retrieved March 3, 2014.
^ Jump up to: a b "Federal Convention, Resolution and Letter to the Continental Congress". The Founders' Constitution. The University of Chicago Press. pp. 194–195, Volume 1, Chapter 6, Document 11. Retrieved March 6, 2014.
External links[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Founding Fathers of the United States.
The Founding Fathers: Delegates to the Constitutional Convention
National Constitution Center
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Pledge of Allegiance (United States)
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This article is about the U.S. oath of allegiance. For the general topic of oaths of allegiance, see Oath of allegiance. For other uses, see Pledge of Allegiance (disambiguation).
Pledge of Allegiance
(Bellamy versions)
(changes are bolded and underlined)
1892 (first version) [1]
"I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."
1892 to 1923
"I pledge allegiance to my Flag and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."
1923 to 1954 [1]
"I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."
1954 (current version)
4 U.S.C. §4 [2]
"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."
The Pledge of Allegiance of the United States is an expression of allegiance to the Flag of the United States and the republic of the United States of America. It was originally composed by Captain George Thatcher Balch,[3][4][5] a Union Army Officer during the Civil War and later a teacher of patriotism in New York City schools. The form of the pledge used today was largely devised by Francis Bellamy in 1892, and formally adopted by Congress as the pledge in 1942.[6] The official name of The Pledge of Allegiance was adopted in 1945. The most recent alteration of its wording came on Flag Day in 1954, when the words "under God" were added.[7]
Contents
[hide]
1 Recital
2 Origins
2.1 Balch and Bellamy pledges
2.2 Francis Bellamy's account
3 Changes
3.1 Addition of "under God"
4 Salute
5 Music
6 Controversy
6.1 Legal challenges
7 See also
8 References
9 Further reading
10 External links
Recital[edit]
Congressional sessions open with the recital of the Pledge, as do many government meetings at local levels, and meetings held by many private organizations. All states except Hawaii, Iowa, Vermont and Wyoming require a regularly-scheduled recitation of the pledge in the public schools, although the Supreme Court has ruled in West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette that students cannot be compelled to recite the Pledge, nor can they be punished for not doing so.[8] In a number of states, state flag pledges of allegiance are required to be recited after this.[9]
The United States Flag Code says:
The Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag—"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."[10]—should be rendered by standing at attention facing the flag with the right hand over the heart. When not in uniform men should remove any non-religious headdress with their right hand and hold it at the left shoulder, the hand being over the heart. Persons in uniform should remain silent, face the flag, and render the military salute. Members of the Armed Forces not in uniform and veterans may render the military salute in the manner provided for persons in uniform.[2]
Origins[edit]
Balch and Bellamy pledges[edit]
The Pledge of Allegiance, as it exists in its current form, was composed in August 1892 by Francis Bellamy (1855–1931), who was a Baptist minister, a Christian socialist,[11][12] and the cousin of socialist utopian novelist Edward Bellamy (1850–1898). There did exist a previous version created by Rear Admiral George Balch, a veteran of the Civil War, who later become auditor of the New York Board of Education. Balch's pledge, which existed contemporaneously with the Bellamy version until the 1923 National Flag Conference, read:
We give our heads and hearts to God and our country; one country, one language, one flag![3]
Balch was a proponent of teaching children, especially those of immigrants, loyalty to the United States, even going so far as to write a book on the subject and work with both the government and private organizations to distribute flags to every classroom and school.[3][13] Balch's pledge, which predates Bellamy's by 5 years [which year?] and was embraced by many schools, by the Daughters of the American Revolution until the 1910s, and by the Grand Army of the Republic until the 1923 National Flag Conference, is often overlooked when discussing the history of the Pledge.[14] Bellamy, however, did not approve of the pledge as Balch had written it, referring to the text as "too juvenile and lacking in dignity."[15] The Bellamy "Pledge of Allegiance" was first published in the September 8 issue of the popular children's magazine The Youth's Companion as part of the National Public-School Celebration of Columbus Day, a celebration of the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the Americas. The event was conceived and promoted by James B. Upham, a marketer for the magazine, as a campaign to instill the idea of American nationalism in students and to sell flags to public schools.[16] According to author Margarette S. Miller, this campaign was in line both with Upham's patriotic vision as well as with his commercial interest. According to Miller, Upham "would often say to his wife: 'Mary, if I can instill into the minds of our American youth a love for their country and the principles on which it was founded, and create in them an ambition to carry on with the ideals which the early founders wrote into The Constitution, I shall not have lived in vain.'"[17]
Bellamy's original Pledge read:
I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.[1][18]
Students reciting a pledge on Flag Day in 1899
The Pledge was supposed to be quick and to the point. Bellamy designed it to be recited in 15 seconds. As a socialist, he had initially also considered using the words equality and fraternity[16] but decided against it, knowing that the state superintendents of education on his committee were against equality for women and African Americans.[19]
Francis Bellamy and Upham had lined up the National Education Association to support the Youth's Companion as a sponsor of the Columbus Day observance and the use in that observance of the American flag. By June 29, 1892, Bellamy and Upham had arranged for Congress and President Benjamin Harrison to announce a proclamation making the public school flag ceremony the center of the Columbus Day celebrations. This arrangement was formalized when Harrison issued Presidential Proclamation 335. Subsequently, the Pledge was first used in public schools on October 12, 1892, during Columbus Day observances organized to coincide with the opening of the World's Columbian Exposition (the Chicago World's Fair), Illinois.[20]
Francis Bellamy's account[edit]
In his recollection of the creation of the Pledge, Francis Bellamy said, "At the beginning of the nineties patriotism and national feeling was (sic) at a low ebb. The patriotic ardor of the Civil War was an old story ... The time was ripe for a reawakening of simple Americanism and the leaders in the new movement rightly felt that patriotic education should begin in the public schools."[15] James Upham "felt that a flag should be on every schoolhouse,"[15] so his publication "fostered a plan of selling flags to schools through the children themselves at cost, which was so successful that 25,000 schools acquired flags in the first year (1892-93).[15]
As the World's Columbian Exposition was set to celebrate the 400th anniversary the arrival of Christopher Columbus in the Americas, Upham sought to link the publication's flag drive to the event, "so that every school in the land ... would have a flag raising, under the most impressive conditions."[15] Bellamy was placed in charge of this operation and was soon lobbying "not only the superintendents of education in all the States, but [he] also worked with governors, Congressmen, and even the President of the United States."[15] The publication's efforts paid off when Benjamin Harrison declared Wednesday October 12, 1892, to be Columbus Day for which The Youth's Companion made "an official program for universal use in all the schools."[15] Bellamy recalled that the event "had to be more than a list of exercises. The ritual must be prepared with simplicity and dignity."[15]
Edna Dean Proctor wrote an ode for the event, and "There was also an oration suitable for declamation."[15] Bellamy held that "Of course, the nub of the program was to be the raising of the flag, with a salute to the flag recited by the pupils in unison."[15] He found "There was not a satisfactory enough form for this salute. The Balch salute, which ran, "I give my heart and my hand to my country, one country, one language, one flag," seemed to him too juvenile and lacking in dignity."[15] After working on the idea with Upham, Bellamy concluded, "It was my thought that a vow of loyalty or allegiance to the flag should be the dominant idea. I especially stressed the word 'allegiance'. ... Beginning with the new word allegiance, I first decided that 'pledge' was a better school word than 'vow' or 'swear'; and that the first person singular should be used, and that 'my' flag was preferable to 'the.'"[15] Bellamy considered the words "country, nation, or Republic," choosing the last as "it distinguished the form of government chosen by the founding fathers and established by the Revolution. The true reason for allegiance to the flag is the Republic for which it stands."[15] Bellamy then reflected on the sayings of Revolutionary and Civil War figures, and concluded "all that pictured struggle reduced itself to three words, one Nation indivisible."[15]
Bellamy considered the slogan of the French Revolution, Liberté, égalité, fraternité ("liberty, equality, fraternity"), but held that "fraternity was too remote of realization, and … [that] equality was a dubious word."[15] Concluding "Liberty and justice were surely basic, were undebatable, and were all that any one Nation could handle. If they were exercised for all. they involved the spirit of equality and fraternity."[15]
After being reviewed by Upham and other members of The Youth's Companion, the Pledge was approved and put in the official Columbus Day program. Bellamy noted that, "In later years the words 'to my flag' were changed to 'to the flag of the United States of America' because of the large number of foreign children in the schools."[15] Bellamy disliked the change, as "it did injure the rhythmic balance of the original composition."[15]
Changes[edit]
A plaque in Lansing, MI, dated 1918, listing the Balch Pledge, which was used parallel to the Bellamy Pledge until the National Flag Conference in 1923.
In 1906, The Daughters of the American Revolution's magazine, The American Monthly, listed the "formula of allegiance" as being the Balch Pledge of Allegiance, which reads:[14]
I pledge allegiance to my flag, and the republic for which it stands. I pledge my head and my heart to God and my country. One country, one language and one flag.
In subsequent publications of the Daughters of the American Revolution, such as in 1915's "Proceedings of the Twenty-Fourth Continental Congress of the Daughters of the American Revolution" and 1916's annual "National Report," the Balch Pledge, listed as official in 1906, is now categorized as "Old Pledge" with Bellamy's version under the heading "New Pledge."[21][22] However, the "Old Pledge" continued to be used by other organizations until the National Flag Conference established uniform flag procedures in 1923.
In 1923, the National Flag Conference called for the words "my Flag" to be changed to "the Flag of the United States," so that new immigrants would not confuse loyalties between their birth countries and the US. The words "of America" were added a year later. Congress officially recognized the Pledge for the first time, in the following form, on June 22, 1942:[23]
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
Addition of "under God"[edit]
"Under God" redirects here. For the book, see Under God (book).
Louis Albert Bowman, an attorney from Illinois, was the first to suggest the addition of "under God" to the pledge. The National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution gave him an Award of Merit as the originator of this idea.[24][25] He spent his adult life in the Chicago area and was chaplain of the Illinois Society of the Sons of the American Revolution. At a meeting on February 12, 1948,[24] he led the society in reciting the pledge with the two words "under God" added. He said that the words came from Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. Although not all manuscript versions of the Gettysburg Address contain the words "under God", all the reporters' transcripts of the speech as delivered do, as perhaps Lincoln may have deviated from his prepared text and inserted the phrase when he said "that the nation shall, under God, have a new birth of freedom." Bowman repeated his revised version of the Pledge at other meetings.[24]
In 1951, the Knights of Columbus, the world's largest Catholic fraternal service organization, also began including the words "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance.[26] In New York City, on April 30, 1951, the board of directors of the Knights of Columbus adopted a resolution to amend the text of their Pledge of Allegiance at the opening of each of the meetings of the 800 Fourth Degree Assemblies of the Knights of Columbus by addition of the words "under God" after the words "one nation." Over the next two years, the idea spread throughout Knights of Columbus organizations nationwide. On August 21, 1952, the Supreme Council of the Knights of Columbus at its annual meeting adopted a resolution urging that the change be made universal, and copies of this resolution were sent to the President, the Vice President (as Presiding Officer of the Senate), and the Speaker of the House of Representatives. The National Fraternal Congress meeting in Boston on September 24, 1952, adopted a similar resolution upon the recommendation of its president, Supreme Knight Luke E. Hart. Several State Fraternal Congresses acted likewise almost immediately thereafter. This campaign led to several official attempts to prompt Congress to adopt the Knights of Columbus policy for the entire nation. These attempts were eventually a success.[27]
At the suggestion of a correspondent, Representative Louis C. Rabaut (D-Mich.), of Michigan sponsored a resolution to add the words "under God" to the Pledge in 1953.[28]
Rev. Dr. George MacPherson Docherty (left) and President Eisenhower (second from left) on the morning of February 7, 1954, at the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church.
Before February 1954, no endeavor to get the pledge officially amended had succeeded. The final successful push came from George MacPherson Docherty. Some American presidents honored Lincoln's birthday by attending services at the church Lincoln attended, New York Avenue Presbyterian Church by sitting in Lincoln's pew on the Sunday nearest February 12. On February 7, 1954, with President Eisenhower sitting in Lincoln's pew, the church's pastor, George MacPherson Docherty, delivered a sermon based on the Gettysburg Address entitled "A New Birth of Freedom." He argued that the nation's might lay not in arms but rather in its spirit and higher purpose. He noted that the Pledge's sentiments could be those of any nation: "There was something missing in the pledge, and that which was missing was the characteristic and definitive factor in the American way of life." He cited Lincoln's words "under God" as defining words that set the US apart from other nations.[citation needed]
President Eisenhower had been baptized a Presbyterian very recently, just a year before. He responded enthusiastically to Docherty in a conversation following the service. Eisenhower acted on his suggestion the next day and on February 8, 1954, Rep. Charles Oakman (R-Mich.), introduced a bill to that effect. Congress passed the necessary legislation and Eisenhower signed the bill into law on Flag Day, June 14, 1954.[29] Eisenhower said:
From this day forward, the millions of our school children will daily proclaim in every city and town, every village and rural school house, the dedication of our nation and our people to the Almighty.... In this way we are reaffirming the transcendence of religious faith in America's heritage and future; in this way we shall constantly strengthen those spiritual weapons which forever will be our country's most powerful resource, in peace or in war.[30]
The phrase "under God" was incorporated into the Pledge of Allegiance on June 14, 1954, by a Joint Resolution of Congress amending § 4 of the Flag Code enacted in 1942.[29]
On October 6, 1954, the National Executive Committee of the American Legion adopted a resolution, first approved by the Illinois American Legion Convention in August 1954, which formally recognized the Knights of Columbus for having initiated and brought forward the amendment to the Pledge of Allegiance.[27]
Even though the movement behind inserting "under God" into the pledge might have been initiated by a private religious fraternity and even though references to God appear in previous versions of the pledge, author Kevin M. Kruse asserts that this movement was an effort by corporate America to instill in the minds of the people that capitalism and free enterprise were heavenly blessed. Kruse acknowledges the insertion of the phrase was influenced by the push-back against atheistic communism during the Cold War, but argues the longer arc of history shows the conflation of Christianity and capitalism as a challenge to the New Deal played the larger role.[31]
Salute[edit]
Swearing of the Pledge is accompanied by a salute. An early version of the salute, adopted in 1887, known as the Balch Salute, which accompanied the Balch pledge, instructed students to stand with their right hand outstretched toward the flag, the fingers of which are then brought to the forehead, followed by being placed flat over the heart, and finally falling to the side.[3]
In 1892, Francis Bellamy created what was known as the Bellamy salute. It started with the hand outstretched toward the flag, palm down, and ended with the palm up. Because of the similarity between the Bellamy salute and the Nazi salute, which was adopted in Germany later, the US Congress stipulated that the hand-over-the-heart gesture as the salute to be rendered by civilians during the Pledge of Allegiance and the national anthem in the US would be the salute to replace the Bellamy salute. Removal of the Bellamy salute occurred on December 22, 1942, when Congress amended the Flag Code language first passed into law on June 22, 1942.[32] Attached to bills passed in Congress in 2008 and then in 2009 (Section 301(b)(1)of title 36, United States Code), language was included which authorized all active duty military personnel and all veterans in civilian clothes to render a proper hand salute during the raising and lowering of the flag, when the colors are presented, and during the National Anthem.[33]
Music[edit]
Musical setting by Irving Caesar
A musical setting for "The Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag" was created by Irving Caesar, at the suggestion of Congressman Louis C. Rabaut whose House Resolution 243 to add the phrase "under God" was signed into law on Flag Day, June 14, 1954.[34]
The composer, Irving Caesar, wrote and published over 700 songs in his lifetime. Dedicated to social issues, he donated all rights of the musical setting to the U.S. government, so that anyone can perform the piece without owing royalties.[35][36]
It was sung for the first time on the floor of the House of Representatives on Flag Day, June 14, 1955 by the official Air Force choral group the "Singing Sergeants". A July 29, 1955 House and Senate resolution authorized the U.S. Government Printing Office to print and distribute the song sheet together with a history of the pledge.[37]
Other musical versions of the Pledge have since been copyrighted, including by Beck (2003), Lovrekovich (2002 and 2001), Roton (1991), Fijol (1986), and Girardet (1983).[38]
Controversy[edit]
Main article: Criticism of the Pledge of Allegiance
In 1940, the Supreme Court, in Minersville School District v. Gobitis, ruled that students in public schools, including the respondents in that case—Jehovah's Witnesses who considered the flag salute to be idolatry—could be compelled to swear the Pledge. In 1943, in West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette, the Supreme Court reversed its decision. Justice Robert H. Jackson, writing for the 6 to 3 majority, went beyond simply ruling in the precise matter presented by the case to say that public school students are not required to say the Pledge on narrow grounds, and asserted that such ideological dogmata are antithetical to the principles of the country, concluding with:
If there is any fixed star in our constitutional constellation, it is that no official, high or petty, can prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion, or other matters of opinion or force citizens to confess by word or act their faith therein. If there are any circumstances which permit an exception, they do not now occur to us.[39]
In a later case, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals held that students are also not required to stand for the Pledge.[40]
First graders of Japanese ancestry pledging allegiance to the American flag (1942, photo by Dorothea Lange).
Requiring or promoting of the Pledge on the part of the government has continued to draw criticism and legal challenges on several grounds.
One objection is that a democratic republic built on freedom of dissent should not require its citizens to pledge allegiance to it, and that the First Amendment to the United States Constitution protects the right to refrain from speaking or standing, which itself is also a form of speech in the context of the ritual of pledging allegiance.[41][40] Another objection is that the people who are most likely to recite the Pledge every day, small children in schools, cannot really give their consent or even completely understand the Pledge they are making.[42] Another criticism is that a government requiring or promoting the phrase "under God" violates protections against the establishment of religion guaranteed in the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.[43]
In 2004, linguist Geoffrey Nunberg said the original supporters of the addition thought that they were simply quoting Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, but to Lincoln and his contemporaries, "under God" meant "God willing", so they would have found its use in the Pledge of Allegiance grammatically incorrect and semantically odd.[44][45]
Legal challenges[edit]
Prominent legal challenges were brought in the 1930s and 1940s by Jehovah's Witnesses, a denomination whose beliefs preclude swearing loyalty to any power other than God, and who objected to policies in public schools requiring students to swear an oath to the flag.[46] They said requiring the pledge violated their freedom of religion guaranteed by the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment. The first case was in 1935, when two children, Lillian and William Gobitas, ages ten and twelve, were expelled from the Minersville, Pennsylvania, public schools that year for failing to salute the flag and recite the Pledge of Allegiance.[47][48]
In a 2002 case brought by atheist Michael Newdow, whose daughter was being taught the Pledge in school, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the phrase "under God" an unconstitutional endorsement of monotheism when the Pledge was promoted in public school. In 2004, the Supreme Court heard Elk Grove Unified School District v. Newdow, an appeal of the ruling, and rejected Newdow's claim on the grounds that he was not the custodial parent, and therefore lacked standing, thus avoiding ruling on the merits of whether the phrase was constitutional in a school-sponsored recitation. On January 3, 2005, a new suit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California on behalf of three unnamed families. On September 14, 2005, District Court Judge Lawrence Karlton ruled in their favor. Citing the precedent of the 2002 ruling by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Judge Karlton issued an Order stating that, upon proper motion, he would enjoin the school district defendants from continuing their practices of leading children in pledging allegiance to "one Nation under God."[49]
A 2005 Bill, H.R. 2389, to prohibit the Supreme Court's and most federal courts from considering any legal challenges to the government's requiring or promoting of the Pledge of Allegiance, died in the Senate after having passed in the House. This action is viewed[by whom?] in general as court stripping by Congress of the constitutional power of the Judiciary. Even if a similar bill is enacted, its practical effect may not be clear:[opinion] proponents of the bill have said that it is a valid exercise of Congress's power to regulate the jurisdiction of the federal courts under Article III, Section 2 of the Constitution, but opponents say Congress does not have the authority to prevent the Supreme Court from hearing claims based on the Bill of Rights, since this can only be done through Constitutional Amendment. Judges and legal analysts have said that if Congress can remove from the judicial branch the ability to determine if legislation is constitutional, the US separation of powers would be disturbed, or rendered non-functional.[50]
Mark J. Pelavin, former Associate Director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, said of court stripping in regard to the Pledge of Allegiance that:[51][52]
Today's House adoption of the so-called "Pledge Protection Act" is a shameful effort to strip our federal courts of their ability to uphold the rights of all Americans. By removing the jurisdiction of federal courts, including the Supreme Court, from cases involving the Pledge, this legislation sets a dangerous precedent: threatening religious liberty, compromising the vital system of checks and balances upon which our government was founded, and granting Congress the authority to strip the courts' jurisdiction on any issue it wishes. Today, the issue was the Pledge of Allegiance, but tomorrow it could be reproductive rights, civil rights, or any other fundamental concern.
—  Mark J. Pelavin, Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism
In 2006, in the Florida case Frazier v. Alexandre, a federal district court in Florida ruled that a 1942 state law requiring students to stand and recite the Pledge of Allegiance violates the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution.[53] As a result of that decision, a Florida school district was ordered to pay $32,500 to a student who chose not to say the pledge and was ridiculed and called "unpatriotic" by a teacher.[54]
In 2009, a Montgomery County, Maryland, teacher berated and had school police remove a 13-year-old girl who refused to say the Pledge of Allegiance in the classroom. The student's mother, assisted by the American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland, sought and received an apology from the teacher, as state law and the school's student handbook both prohibit students from being forced to recite the Pledge.[55]
On March 11, 2010, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the words "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance in the case of Newdow v. Rio Linda Union School District.[56][57] In a 2–1 decision, the appellate court ruled that the words were of a "ceremonial and patriotic nature" and did not constitute an establishment of religion.[56] Judge Stephen Reinhardt dissented, writing that "the state-directed, teacher-led daily recitation in public schools of the amended 'under God' version of the Pledge of Allegiance... violates the Establishment Clause of the Constitution."[58]
On November 12, 2010, in a unanimous decision, the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in Boston affirmed a ruling by a New Hampshire lower federal court which found that the pledge's reference to God does not violate non-pledging students' rights if student participation in the pledge is voluntary.[59][60] A United States Supreme Court appeal of this decision was denied on June 13, 2011.[61][62]
In September 2013, a case was brought before the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, arguing that the pledge violates the Equal Rights Amendment of the Constitution of Massachusetts.[63] In May 2014, Massachusetts' highest court ruled that the pledge does not discriminate against atheists, saying that the words "under God" represent a patriotic, not a religious, exercise.[64]
In February 2015 New Jersey Superior Court Judge David F. Bauman dismissed a lawsuit, ruling that "… the Pledge of Allegiance does not violate the rights of those who don't believe in God and does not have to be removed from the patriotic message."[65] The case against the Matawan-Aberdeen Regional School District had been brought by a student of the district and the American Humanist Association that argued that the phrase "under God" in the pledge created a climate of discrimination because it promoted religion, making non-believers "second-class citizens." In a twenty-one page decision, Bauman wrote, "Under [the association members'] reasoning, the very constitution under which [the members] seek redress for perceived atheistic marginalization could itself be deemed unconstitutional, an absurd proposition which [association members] do not and cannot advance here."[65] Bauman said the student could skip the pledge, but upheld a New Jersey law that says pupils must recite the pledge unless they have "conscientious scruples" that do not allow it.[66][67] He noted, "As a matter of historical tradition, the words 'under God' can no more be expunged from the national consciousness than the words 'In God We Trust' from every coin in the land, than the words 'so help me God' from every presidential oath since 1789, or than the prayer that has opened every congressional session of legislative business since 1787.”
See also[edit]
Australian citizenship affirmation, a similar concept
Ceremonial deism
Flag Salute
Loyalty oaths in the United States
Youth's Companion Building, where the Pledge of Allegiance was written and published
Separation of church and state, which provides more information surrounding "under god" in the pledge
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Jump up ^ "Court upholds 'under God' in Pledge of Allegiance". Associated Press. 2010-03-11. Archived from the original on 2010-03-16. Retrieved 2010-03-11.
Jump up ^ Geoffrey Nunberg (2004-06-20). "I Might Have Guessed Parson Weems Would Figure In There Somewhere". Language Log. Retrieved 2007-05-03.
Jump up ^ Geoffrey Nunberg (2004-06-20). ""(Next) Under God," Phrasal Idiom". Language Log. Retrieved 2007-05-03.
Jump up ^ Jehovah's Witnesses-Proclaimers of God's Kingdom, Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, 1993, pp. 196-197.
Jump up ^ "Flag Salute Cases". The Free Dictionary. Retrieved 2014-02-03.
Jump up ^ Minersville School District v. Gobitis, 310 U.S. 586, 60 S. Ct. 1010, 84 L. Ed. 1375 (1940)
Jump up ^ Kravets, David (September 16, 2005), "Federal judge rules Pledge of Allegiance is unconstitutional", The Chicago Defender, archived from the original on 2006-01-11, retrieved 2008-03-31
Jump up ^ "Retired Federal Judges Urge Congress Not to Pass "Court-Stripping" Measure that Would Deny Rights in". Brennancenter.org. 2005-12-08. Retrieved 2012-01-16.
Jump up ^ "Who We Are: Mark J. Pelavin, Senior Advisor to the President". Union for Reform Judaism. Retrieved 13 December 2016.
Jump up ^ "Court-stripping and Legislating Against the First Amendment (12 July 2006)". Jewsonfirst.org. Archived from the original on 29 September 2011. Retrieved 2012-01-16.
Jump up ^ Frazier v. Alexandre , 434 F.Supp.2d 1350 (S.D. Fla. May 31, 2006).
Jump up ^ "Frazier v. Alexandre, No. 05-81142 (S.D. Fla. May 31, 2006)". National School Boards Association. March 15, 2011. Archived from the original on 2011-03-15.
Jump up ^ Johnson, Jenna (February 24, 2010). "Pledge of Allegiance dispute results in Md. teacher having to apologize". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2010-02-25.
^ Jump up to: a b Chea, Terence (March 12, 2010). "Fed. appeals court upholds 'under God' in pledge". Associated Press. Archived from the original on 2010-03-15. Retrieved 2010-03-12.
Jump up ^ Newdow vs. Rio Linda Union School District (9th Cir. March 12, 2010). Text
Jump up ^ "Pledge of Allegiance's God reference now upheld by court". LA Times. March 12, 2010. Retrieved 2011-01-11.
Jump up ^ Freedom from Religion Foundation v. Hanover School District (1st Cir. Nov 12, 2010). Text
Jump up ^ Lavoie, Denise (November 15, 2010). "Court OKs NH law allowing 'God' pledge in schools". The Boston Globe. Boston, MA: Christopher M. Mayer. Retrieved 2010-11-16. The constitutionality of a New Hampshire law...
Jump up ^ Egelko, Bob (June 15, 2011). "High court spurns atheist's 'under God' challenge". San Francisco Chronicle. San Francisco, CA: Hearst Corporation. A Sacramento atheist's challenge to the addition of "under God" to the Pledge of Allegiance...
Jump up ^ Supreme Court of the United States (June 13, 2011). "Freedom From Religion Foundation, Petitioner v. United States, et al". Supreme Court of the United States. Retrieved 2011-06-15.
Jump up ^ "'Under God' part of Pledge of Allegiance under review in Massachusetts". CNN.com. 2013-09-04. Retrieved 2013-10-23.
Jump up ^ "Massachusetts court rules 'under God' in pledge does not discriminate against atheists". The Washington Post. 2014-05-09. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2016-02-13.
^ Jump up to: a b "'Under God' is not discriminatory and will stay in pledge, judge says". NJ.com. Retrieved 12 June 2015.
Jump up ^ Salvador Rizzo. "Hearing 'Under God' in Pledge of Allegiance does not violate rights of atheist students, NJ judge rules". NorthJersey.com. Archived from the original on 10 March 2016. Retrieved 29 February 2016.
Jump up ^ "Judge Refuses To Kick God Out Of Public Schools". Forbes. 7 February 2015. Retrieved 29 February 2016.
Further reading[edit]
Martin, Leisa A. (May–June 2008). "Examining the Pledge of Allegiance". Social Studies. 99 (3): 127–131. doi:10.3200/tsss.99.3.127-131.
John W. Baer (2007). The Pledge of Allegiance: A Revised History and Analysis, 1892–2007 (Free State Press, Inc.) ISBN 978-0-9650620-2-2 Excerpt, Chapter Eight: "Under God" and Other Questions About the Pledge.
Richard J. Ellis (2005). To the Flag: The Unlikely History of the Pledge of Allegiance (Lawrence: University of Kansas Press) ISBN 0-7006-1372-2
Marc Leepson (2005). Flag: An American Biography (Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin's Press) ISBN 0-312-32308-5
Kevin M. Kruse (2015). One Nation Under God: How Corporate America Invented Christian America, Basic Books, ISBN 0465049494.
External links[edit]
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4 U.S.C. § 4
Docherty's Sermon Manuscript, Feb. 7, 1954[dead link]
Minister Reprises "Under God" Sermon
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