<P> Edna Dean Proctor wrote an ode for the event , and `` There was also an oration suitable for declamation . '' Bellamy held that `` Of course , the nub of the program was to be the raising of the flag , with a salute to the flag recited by the pupils in unison . '' He found `` There was not a satisfactory enough form for this salute . The Balch salute , which ran , `` I give my heart and my hand to my country , one country , one language , one flag , '' seemed to him too juvenile and lacking in dignity . '' After working on the idea with Upham , Bellamy concluded , `` It was my thought that a vow of loyalty or allegiance to the flag should be the dominant idea . I especially stressed the word ' allegiance ' ... Beginning with the new word allegiance , I first decided that ' pledge ' was a better school word than ' vow ' or ' swear ' ; and that the first person singular should be used , and that ' my ' flag was preferable to ' the . ' '' Bellamy considered the words `` country , nation , or Republic , '' choosing the last as `` it distinguished the form of government chosen by the founding fathers and established by the Revolution . The true reason for allegiance to the flag is the Republic for which it stands . '' Bellamy then reflected on the sayings of Revolutionary and Civil War figures , and concluded `` all that pictured struggle reduced itself to three words , one Nation indivisible . '' </P>
<P> Edna Dean Proctor wrote an ode for the event , and `` There was also an oration suitable for declamation . '' Bellamy held that `` Of course , the nub of the program was to be the raising of the flag , with a salute to the flag recited by the pupils in unison . '' He found `` There was not a satisfactory enough form for this salute . The Balch salute , which ran , `` I give my heart and my hand to my country , one country , one language , one flag , '' seemed to him too juvenile and lacking in dignity . '' After working on the idea with Upham , Bellamy concluded , `` It was my thought that a vow of loyalty or allegiance to the flag should be the dominant idea . I especially stressed the word ' allegiance ' ... Beginning with the new word allegiance , I first decided that ' pledge ' was a better school word than ' vow ' or ' swear ' ; and that the first person singular should be used , and that ' my ' flag was preferable to ' the . ' '' Bellamy considered the words `` country , nation , or Republic , '' choosing the last as `` it distinguished the form of government chosen by the founding fathers and established by the Revolution . The true reason for allegiance to the flag is the Republic for which it stands . '' Bellamy then reflected on the sayings of Revolutionary and Civil War figures , and concluded `` all that pictured struggle reduced itself to three words , one Nation indivisible . '' </P>
who was the pledge of allegiance written for
who was the pledge of allegiance written for
pupils
pupils