James B Upham Origin Of The Pledge To The Flag

Saluting the flag in public schools began as part of a national effort to Americanize immigrants. Here, Richard Ellis unfurls the history of the Pledge of Allegiance and of the debates and controversies that have sometimes surrounded it.

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.

During the Revolutionary War, people of the United States wanted a flag that represented their new country. Many versions of the Stars and Stripes were created. Finally in 1818, Congress passed a law setting the number of stars and stripes. At last, the country was united under one flag design. The flag was the inspiration for the words of Francis Scott Key, which became the national anthem. It also encouraged Francis Bellamy and James B. Upham to write the Pledge of Allegiance. The flag has seen the United States through wars, adventures, growth, celebrations, and most recently, terrorist attacks. But in good times and in bad, the American flag deserves our respect, loyalty, and love. Book jacket.

In The Unveiling of the National Icons, Albert Boime analyses the creation and reception of several American national monuments as a means of understanding the politics of memory and national icons. In engaging, 'behind the scenes' accounts of several highly visible symbols, such as the American flag, the Statue of Liberty, and Mount Rushmore, among others, he demonstrates how these icons have been manipulated for patriotic purposes. Boime also shows how these monuments express individual and collective needs and how they are subject to contested readings, despite their origins in the creative imaginations of conservatives and privileged members of America. Examining these symbols as a group for the first time, this book is also the first serious investigation of visual artifacts that are too often taken for granted.

For over one hundred years, it has been deeply ingrained in American culture. Saluting the flag in public schools began as part of a national effort to Americanize immigrants, its final six words imbuing it with universal hope and breathtaking power. Now Richard Ellis unfurls the fascinating history of the Pledge of Allegiance and of the debates and controversies that have sometimes surrounded it. For anyone who has ever recited those thirty-one words, To the Flag provides an unprecedented historical perspective on recent challenges to the Pledge. As engaging as it is informative, it traces the story from the Pledge's composition by Francis Bellamy in 1892 up to the Supreme Court's action in 2004 regarding atheist Michael Newdow's objection to the words "under God." Ellis is especially good at highlighting aspects of this story that might not be familiar to most readers: the schoolhouse flag movement, the codification of the Pledge at the First National Flag Conference in 1923, changing styles of salute, and the uses of the Pledge to quell public concerns over sundry strains of radicalism. Created against the backdrop of rapid immigration, the Pledge has continued for over a century to be injected into American politics at times of heightened anxiety over the meaning of our national identity. Ellis analyzes the text of the Pledge to tell how the very words "indivisible" and "allegiance" were intended to invoke Civil War sentiments-and how "with liberty and justice for all" forms a capsule expression of the American creed. He also examines the introduction of "under God" as an anti-Communist declaration in the 1950s, demonstrating that the phrase is not mere ceremonial Deism but rather a profound expression of what has been called America's "civil religion." The Pledge has inspired millions but has also been used to promote conformity and silence dissent-indeed its daily recitation in schools and legislatures tells us as much about our anxieties as a nation as it does about our highest ideals. Ellis reveals how, for over a century, those who have been most fearful about threats to our national identity have often been most insistent on the importance of patriotic rituals. Indeed, by addressing this inescapable paradox of our civic life, Ellis opens a new and unexpected window on the American soul.