Who wrote the Pledge of Allegiance?

Answer 1

Francis Bellamy is the author of the Pledge of Allegiance.

It was published on September 8, 1892. It had such an impact on America that the pledge was born. Francis Bellamy (1855 - 1931), a Baptist minister, wrote the original Pledge in August 1892. He was a Christian Socialist. In his Pledge, he is expressing the ideas of his first cousin, Edward Bellamy, author of the American socialist utopian novels, Looking Backward (1888) and Equality(1897).

Francis Bellamy wrote the orignial pledge in 1892 It read: "I Pledge Allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all." In 1923 the words "my flag" were changed to "the Flag of the United States of America." The words "Under God" were added to the pledge in 1954.

Answer 2

The Baptist Minister Francis Bellamy wrote the Pledge of Allegiance in 1892. He was forced to leave his Boston church the previous year because of the socialist bent of his sermons. (He shared the political sentiments of his first cousin, Edward Bellamy, who wrote two socialist utopian novels, Looking Backward and Equality.) Francis Bellamy was later hired by the The Youth's Companion, a popular family magazine at the time. His writings reflected a Christian Socialist vision of a government-managed economy with "political, social and economic equality for all."

While writing for the journal, he was also on the Massachusetts State Education Board and was charged with organizing the state's Columbus Day celebrations in 1892. He decided to craft a pledge that school children would say aloud in front of the flag -- a pledge that would reflect his socialist beliefs. As published in Youth's Companion, the first version read, "I pledge allegiance to my Flag and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

Mr. Bellamy considered using the word "equality" as well, but was aware that several members of his education committee were firmly against equal rights for women and African Americans. The phrase "under God," which was added by President Eisenhower in 1954, would not have met with Mr. Bellamy's approval. In his later years, Mr. Bellamy stopped attending services, dismayed by the openly racist sentiments of his church.

Answer 3

Francis Bellamy (1855 - 1931), A Baptist Minister who was asked to leave his church because because of his 'socialist' views, wrote the original pledge in 1892. The Pledge was published in the September 8th issue of The Youth's Companion, a popular magazine of the day. It was changed, slightly, twice. It was changed by The American Legion and the DAR in 1924 to add '(flag) of the United States of America', and later, by congress in 1954, after a national campaign by the Catholic Knights of Columbus, who added the words 'under God'. It is a popular affirmation and considered patriotic, but with no legal standing.