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Sophia Brockman
Laurie Oberg
English 11
24 January 2016

I Pledge To The History of The United States Of America

In 1829, a man by the name of Francis Bellamy wrote the the original Pledge of
Allegiance for the United States of America. Since then millions of peoples have recited this
pledge in schools, at sporting events, in meetings, and all different settings across the United
States. The pledge carries a large history of our country with it, and by reciting it, it reminds us
all of the foundations that it was built on, one being religion. The words under God in the
pledge help us recognize the role that religion played in helping the formation of this country.
The pledge holds so much historical value that can be passed on for generations to remind us of
our past. By removing the words under God from the pledge you are taking out a large part of
our history for our future generations to learn. The pledge is also something that brings people
together to be proud of the country that they live in, and it brings people together it times of
hardship.
In the beginning of the U.S. european immigrants came to North America to break away
from the religions of their old countries. Some left because the rules were too strict and others
left because there werent enough rules. Either way they all came to create their own societies
around their own religions. These are the people who came and spread along the entire east coast
and eventually all the way to the west coast. These are the people who created our country and
their religion played a very significant role in their to come here and build their own culture. The

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pledge reflects this importance of religion with its words under God and by removing these
words, you are removing a large part of our history.
Some may say that the pledge holds religious significance so that it could be considered a
prayer, but more than a prayer it is a form of patriotism and recognition of our history .The
pledge of allegiance in America is a way for people to show their patriotism toward their country,
The pledge is an endorsement of our form of government, not of religion or any particular sect,
as said by the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court. The pledge is a historical document, and is recited by
people over the country, but the words are not true to the reciter. Rather than it being the words
of the people of our country, it is the words of our founding fathers and historical figures of our
past.
Not only in our past has religion been important to the people of the United States in the
past, but it continues to play a large role for hundreds of years after. During the Cold War, when
under God was added into pledge, these words helped unite the country, to come together
during war which is a time of hardship for all. In hard times that our whole country encounters
people come together and use the words of the pledge to remind them of our history and how we
have gotten through hard times in the past. Judge Carlos Bea says, The Pledge of Allegiance
serves to unite our vast nation through the proud recitation of some of the ideals upon which our
Republic was founded. Its the foundation of our country that people are reminded of when the
recite the pledge, and these ideals are what can help us through tough times.
Though there are a lot of people who support the words under God in the Pledge of
Allegiance, there are also those who do not want these words to continue to be present in the
oath to our country. Many people on this side of the argument usually say that it is
unconstitutional for students to be forced to say because of its religious words, the words under

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God in the Pledge render it a religious exercise and that government sponsorship of recitals for
the Pledge by children in public schools thus violates the Establishment of the First Amendment
(The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life). What these people are not realizing is that people
are not reciting this to form a prayer for their country, they are reciting this, as people have done
for many years, and it has become such a rich form of patriotism for many Americans.
Throughout our country people come together to recognize the history of our nation and
the foundations it was built on. By reciting it people can come together during hard times and
unite as one nation. The Pledge of Allegiance is important to our country because it helps us
connect with the history of our nation every day, and help us remember the ideals that U.S. was
built one of them being religion. This country was started because of religion and it continued to
be a huge contributor to the growth and creation of this country. If the words under God are
taken out of the pledge, it would be like taking history out for people to learn about in the future.

Work Cited
Chea, Terrence. Under God In Pledge Of Allegiance Upheld By Court. The Huffington Post.
11 Feb, 2010. Web. 6 Mar. 2016.

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Egelko, Bob Appeals Court Says Under God Not A Payer. Hearst Communications Inc. 12
March, 2010. Web. 6 Mar. 2016.