Editing Pledge of Allegiance (section)

=== Balch pledge ===
[[File:George Thatcher Balch (1828-1894).jpg|thumb|Captain George T. Balch wrote an early pledge of allegiance.]]
[[File:Portrait of Francis Bellamy 01.jpg|thumb|Reverend Francis Bellamy wrote the version that became official.]]
An early pledge was created in 1887 by Captain George T. Balch,<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|last=Jehle|first=Dr Paul|date=June 1, 2018|title="Under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance – 1954|url=https://plymrock.org/under-god-in-the-pledge-of-allegiance-1954/|access-date=August 22, 2020|website=Plymouth Rock Foundation|language=en-US|archive-date=October 16, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201016213348/https://plymrock.org/under-god-in-the-pledge-of-allegiance-1954/|url-status=live}}</ref> a veteran of the Civil War, who later became auditor of the New York Board of Education.<ref>{{Cite web|title=George T. Balch • Cullum's Register • 1496|url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/America/United_States/Army/USMA/Cullums_Register/1496*.html|access-date=August 22, 2020|website=penelope.uchicago.edu}}</ref> Balch's pledge, which was recited contemporaneously with Bellamy's until the 1923 National Flag Conference, read:<ref name=":0" />

{{Blockquote|We give our heads and hearts to God and our country; one country, one language, one flag!|author=|title=|source=}}

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.<ref>{{Cite book|title = The Overland Monthly|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=prVUAAAAYAAJ|publisher = Samuel Carson|date = January 1, 1891}}</ref> Balch's pledge, which predates Francis Bellamy's by five years 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.<ref name=":1" />