Editing Pledge of Allegiance (section)

=== Bellamy pledge ===
The pledge that later evolved into the form used today was composed in August 1892 by [[Francis Bellamy]] (1855–1931) for the popular children's magazine ''[[The Youth's Companion]]''. Francis Bellamy, who was a [[Baptist]] minister, a [[Christian socialist]],<ref name="Kubal">{{cite book|last=Kubal|first=Timothy|title=Cultural Movements and Collective Memory: Christopher Columbus and the Rewriting of the National Origin Myth|date=October 2008|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|isbn=978-0-230-61576-2|location=Basingstoke, Hampshire, GBR|doi=10.1057/9780230615762}}</ref><ref name="Mason">{{cite web|title=Grand Lodge of BC and Yukon profile of Bellamy|url=http://freemasonry.bcy.ca/biography/bellamy_f/bellamy_f.html|access-date=October 23, 2013|publisher=Freemasonry.bcy.ca|archive-date=March 16, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190316155710/http://freemasonry.bcy.ca/biography/bellamy_f/bellamy_f.html|url-status=live}}</ref> and the cousin of [[Edward Bellamy]] (1850–1898), described the text of Balch's pledge as "too juvenile and lacking in dignity."<ref name="Synopsis" /> The Bellamy "Pledge of Allegiance" was first published in the September 8, 1892, issue of ''The Youth's Companion'' as part of the National Public-School Celebration of [[Columbus Day]], a celebration of the 400th anniversary of [[Christopher Columbus]]'s arrival in the Americas. The event was conceived and promoted by James B. Upham, a marketer for the magazine, as a campaign to instill the idea of [[American nationalism]] in students and to encourage children to raise flags above their schools.<ref name="The Story">Bellamy, Francis, "[http://www.lib.rochester.edu/index.cfm?PAGE=3418 The Story of the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100504061201/http://www.lib.rochester.edu/index.cfm?PAGE=3418 |date=May 4, 2010 }}," ''University of Rochester Library Bulletin'', Vol. VIII, Winter 1953.</ref> According to author Margarette S. Miller, this campaign was in line both with Upham's patriotic vision as well as with his commercial interest. According to Miller, Upham "would often say to his wife: 'Mary, if I can instill into the minds of our American youth a love for their country and the principles on which it was founded, and create in them an ambition to carry on with the ideals which the early founders wrote into The Constitution, I shall not have lived in vain.{{'"}}<ref>{{cite book|title=I Pledge Allegiance|first=Margarette S.|last=Miller|publisher=Christopher Publishing House, Youth's companion|year=1946}}</ref> In 1957, [[Kenneth Keating]] instigated a report by Congress' [[Legislative Research Service]] that it was Francis Bellamy, and not James B. Upham, who authored the September 8, 1892, article; Keating represented [[New York's 38th congressional district]], which included Bellamy's birthplace, [[Mount Morris, New York|Mount Morris]].<ref name="Roberts2022"/>

Bellamy's original Pledge :
{{Blockquote|I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.<ref name=ushistory>{{cite web|title=The Pledge of Allegiance|url=http://www.ushistory.org/documents/pledge.htm|work=Historic Documents|publisher=Independence Hall Association: ushistory.org|access-date=29 August 2012|archive-date=September 27, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120927025409/http://www.ushistory.org/documents/pledge.htm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>[[Francis Bellamy]] – The word "to" was inserted between "my Flag and" and "the Republic" in October 1892.</ref>}}The Pledge was supposed to be quick and to the point. Bellamy designed it to be recited in 15 seconds. As a socialist, he had initially also considered using the words ''equality'' and ''fraternity''<ref name="The Story" /> but decided against it.

Francis Bellamy and Upham had lined up the [[National Education Association]] to support the ''Youth's Companion'' as a sponsor of the Columbus Day observance and the use in that observance of the American flag. By June 29, 1892, Bellamy and Upham had arranged for Congress and [[Benjamin Harrison|President Benjamin Harrison]] to announce a proclamation making the public school flag ceremony the center of the Columbus Day celebrations. This arrangement was formalized when Harrison issued Presidential Proclamation 335. Subsequently, the Pledge was first used in public schools on October 12, 1892, during Columbus Day observances organized to coincide with the opening of the [[World's Columbian Exposition]] (the Chicago World's Fair), [[Illinois]].<ref>Miller, Margarette S. (1976). ''Twenty Three Words: A Biography of Francis Bellamy: Author of the Pledge of Allegiance''. Portsmouth, Vir.: Printcraft Press. pp. 63–65 {{ISBN|0-686-15626-9}}</ref>