Pledge of Allegiance

Eugene F. Provenzo Jr. & Astérie Baker Provenzo

The Pledge of Allegiance is an important tradition of American education that dates back to the early 1890s when James Upham, the head of circulation at the children's magazine The Youth's Companion, developed a campaign that encouraged children across the United States to raise money for the purchase of flags in their classrooms. As a result of his, and the children's, efforts over 30,000 flags were eventually purchased across the country. With the success of the flag campaign, Upham decided to create a pledge that students would recite each morning as the flag was raised in their classroom or school. Francis J. Bellamy, one of the magazine's editors, actually wrote the pledge. Heavily involved in the promotion of the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago (where The Youth's Companion was based). Bellamy made the pledge an important component of the plans he put together to celebrate Columbus Day (October The ...

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