US History You Should KnowAre you already an expert in everything America? Great! No need to read about these fascinating facts and important events that have shaped the U.S. as we know it today.
The Origins of Age Restrictions
The Ubiquitous American Flag
Top Secret Intel: Declassified
How Washington Became the U.S. Capital
Historical Lies & Misconceptions
Why We Don't Use the Metric System
Religious Panics That Shook America
Things America Did First
Proposed States and Territories That Almost Were
Mistakes That Created America As You Know It
Traveling Cross-Country Over the Years
What It Was Like to Enter Through Ellis Island
Uncivilized Moments on the Congress Floor
Bloodiest Battles on American Soil
Heinous Policies Toward Children and Families
Times Another US Civil Conflict Almost Began
US History as Told in Maps
A History of Immigration Acts
Events That Sound Made Up
Why We Have the Electoral College
The Writing of the Constitution
A History of Foreign Meddling in US Elections
Important Leaders in US History
Times the Economy Nearly Collapsed
1812: The Biggest Mess in the Country's History
Beloved Things Invented by Immigrants
When Was America Great Again?
Famous American Double Agents
Serial Slayer Infestation
The Marketing Ploy of Flag Allegiance
Weird History
The Pledge Of Allegiance Was A Marketing Ploy Designed To Sell As Many Flags As Possible
Americans know the Pledge of Allegiance very well – the great majority of US states require school children to recite it every single morning. But not many of us know the true history of the Pledge of Allegiance, or that of its author, Francis Bellamy.
While it's true that the Pledge of Allegiance was created as a way to instill patriotism in American kids, it's also so much more than that. The Pledge has gone through several transformations, each of which provides a really interesting insight into the fears and desires of the United States at a particular point in history.
The Pledge of Allegiance has also stirred up controversy over the years, with its original salute (too close to the Nazi salute for comfort) and the addition of "under God." But most people aren't even aware of one of its hidden controversies – that it was written to sell flags for a magazine.
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Francis Bellamy, The Writer Of The Pledge, Was A Socialist Minister With A Racist, Xenophobic Flair
In his earlier career as a Baptist preacher, Francis Bellamy had not received positive responses to his socialist ideas and beliefs. His cohorts especially didn't like his penchant for describing Jesus as a socialist. However, once he got a job working for a magazine called the Youth's Companion, he was free to let that flag fly, so to speak. His writings were political and racist, and they paired his arguments against capitalism with his distrust of non-US citizens. He advocated for the principles of what he deemed "true Americanism."
The Pledge Helped Put Flags At Schools Across America
In the late 1880s, there was a movement to place a flag at every school in the United States. The owner of the Youth's Companion, Daniel Sharp Ford, thought that promoting the flags could help boost sales of the magazine. It was already the most widely circulated weekly magazine at the time, and eminent writers like Mark Twain submitted their work to it, but promoting the sale of American flags really helped push it to the top. Bellamy was hired to come up with a short and sweet pledge to help the magazine sell the flags.
Flag Sales Shot Up With The Proclamation Of The First Columbus Day, And Bellamy's Magazine Profited
President Benjamin Harrison created the first Columbus Day in 1892, honoring the marking of 400 years since the arrival of Christopher Columbus, and his "discovery" of the Americas. The idea behind the celebration was to instill a sense of patriotism in Americans, and the sale of American flags went up in response. Companies like the Youth's Companion, which promised its readers a "free" American flag with the sale of subscriptions, saw enormous profits by jumping on this patriotic bandwagon.
Although the period of time in which Bellamy wrote the Pledge of Allegiance was relatively short, a lot of thought went into the process. He was very careful about the wording he used, and he drew inspiration from the French motto of "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity." As such, the actual writing and planning of the Pledge was years in the making. Bellamy was later praised for his short – yet poetic – writing.
