History of the Pledge of Allegiance
Its Origins and Changes Through the Years
The Pledge of Allegiance was first published in the magazine The Youth’s Companion on September 8, 1892. It had been written the previous month by Francis Bellamy, a Baptist minister and avowed socialist. The magazine’s liberal publisher, Daniel Ford, had hired Bellamy as an assistant the previous year after Bellamy had been forced to leave the Bethany Baptist Church in Boston because of his political sermons. The text of the Pledge as originally written was: I pledge allegiance to my Flag,and the Republic for which it stands:one Nation indivisible,With Liberty and Justice for all. The Youth’s Companion, with a circulation…
