A common tactic used by television reporters and podcasters is to go to a crowded public place and ask random people general questions about American history, politics or world events to point out how uninformed people are. Our nation’s Pledge of Allegiance is one thing many Americans don’t know much about.
The first pledge was created in 1887 by Capt. George T. Balch, a Civil War veteran, to teach children loyalty to the United States. It read, “We give our heads and hearts to God and our country; one country, one language, one flag!”
Francis Bellamy, a minister, revised this version in 1892, and that is the origin of the pledge we know today. He wrote the pledge to inspire patriotism in a post-Civil-War America when patriotism was at a low point.
Bellamy’s original version read, “I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” Given the large number of immigrants in the country, and to avoid confusion with flags from their home countries, the words were changed in 1923 to, “I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America.”
Congress officially recognized the pledge and added it to the federal Flag Code in June of 1942. Today, we recite the Pledge of Allegiance with our right hand over our hearts.
The final change to the pledge occurred in June 1954, during the Cold War when Americans wanted to distinguish the United States from state atheism promoted by communist countries. President Dwight D. Eisenhower and other American presidents were honoring President Abraham Lincoln’s birthday by attending Lincoln’s church. The pastor’s sermon that day was based on the Gettysburg Address. He stated that Lincoln’s words “under God” were what truly set the United States apart from other countries. Eisenhower was so moved that he pressured Congress to add the words “under God” to the pledge, and on June 14, 1954, in a Joint Resolution to the Flag Code, Congress created the Pledge of Allegiance we know today.
I have recited these words thousands of times in my life and never questioned them. However, given all the media blitz during this highly polarized political election year, several words truly caught my attention when I recited it last. When I got to the words, “and to the Republic for which it stands,” my mind drifted to all the media commentary related to threats to democracy and the rebuttals that firmly state that we are a republic and not a democracy. This is another area where we take these terms for granted and often use them interchangeably to describe our form of government.
Our Founding Fathers did their homework and studied history and the success and failures of different forms of government. They wanted to avoid the tyranny of a monarchy and mob rule of a pure democracy, so they created a constitutional federal republic that is mixed with elements of democracy.
A constitutional republic is a form of government in which representatives elected by the people perform their duties under the constraints of a constitution that specifies and limits the power of government.
Our Constitution specifies the separation of powers. The legislative branch makes laws, the executive branch enforces laws, and the judicial branch interprets laws. It also contains checks and balances to ensure that no branch becomes too powerful or absolute, and these are the elements that make America a constitutional federal republic.
The Founding Fathers also wanted the will of the people and not a monarch to be reflected in the laws, and they wanted the citizens engaged in government. To this end, they established the electoral process in which citizens vote for representatives to make decisions for them. Public opinion or the will of the people is the democratic element of our government, and it is assured through the electoral process.
However, this only works if we vote. Election Day is Nov. 5, and it is not too late to be a part of our amazing process, but we need to cast our votes. The will of the people cannot be truly known if its citizens do not vote and use the elements of a democracy to influence our system of government. Voting is a critical element of our entire system of government.
The last pledge words that caused my mind to pause were the words “one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” The word “indivisible” has been an absolute in my thinking my entire life. But, with today’s heated rhetoric on both sides of the political aisle, I found myself thinking for the first time in my life, “I sure hope we are indivisible because the alternative is terrible for all.”
I truly believe that our nation and our cooperatives are stronger together. We should work together to ensure that future generations can recite the Pledge of Allegiance with the same certainty and confidence I have over my lifetime — to ensure that they, too, will enjoy the privilege of living in the greatest nation in history.