The Pledge of Allegiance in the Public School System

The Pledge of Allegiance in the Public School System The Pledge of Allegiance has become a major issue for students, teachers, parents and lawmakers. The original intention of the pledge was not to stir up trouble, but for a celebration of Christopher Columbus discovery of the new world. The pledge is no longer thought of as a celebration, but an infringement on children's religious beliefs. Do you believe that children's rights are being infringed on? Some people believe that the pledge is a great honor for our country. It has shown, and provided us with great pride just like our American flag. The Pledge of Allegiance being recited in the public school system does not infringe on the students religious beliefs, but is a way for us to honor our country and everything that we have done to get to this point in history. In 1892 the Pledge of Allegiance was created by two men Francis Bellamy and James Upham. The intention of the pledge is for it to be used in the 400th anniversary celebration of Christopher Columbus discovery of the new world. The words appeared for the first time in a magazine issue of the "Youth's Companion", where James Upham was employed. Even though the pledge was published there was no author nor was it copyrighted. We have been led to believe that the true author is Francis Bellamy, but there is no concrete evidence of that to date. One month after the pledge was published more than 12 million school children recited the pledge for the first time across the country (Sterner, 1999-2006). The Pledge of Allegiance has gone through many changes over the years. The original creation of the 23 words read like this, "I pledge allegiance to my Flag, and to the Republic for which it stands: one nation indivisible, With Liberty and Justice for all". Pledge of Allegiance 3
In 1923 the phrase "my Flag" was changed to "the Flag of the United States", by adults at the National Flag Conference. They were concerned that thousands