Kimberly Smith
American History 1700
Dr. Randa
10 March 2011
Back is 1776, when the Declaration of Independence was
written, Thomas Jefferson’s original wording was not what it is now. The word “Creator” came out of a series of
words which read “that from that equal
creation they derive in rights inherited and unalienable…” These words
were revised and read, “Endowed by
the Creator these unalienable rights…” (Declaration of
The separation of church and state is a fundamental ideal
most people in
In the early 1800’s church memberships started to grow in
numbers. After the civil war religion
grew even faster and so did the need to acknowledge God, as the “True Guardian”
over our country. Over the last two-hundred years the mottos have been slightly
modified due to what can be considered “good timing”, creativity, and a moral
influences by religious sectors pressuring the government to acknowledge our
nation’s protector. This can be seen as
a contradiction to the First Amendment in the US Constitution which reads,
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or
prohibiting the free exercise thereof…”
Although this might suggest state and church separation, it doesn’t
directly define specific terms so it did not prohibit using the word “God” on
national symbolisms.
It wasn’t until 1814 when Francis Scott Key, who wrote The
Star Spangled Banner, came up with the phrase “In God We Trust”. Key was inspired by the sight of the American
flag still flying high after a brutal war occurred in
After the Civil War, church membership numbers were up to 40%
of the population and became a player in the evolution of our national
symbolisms and their original wording. The mottos represented on
coinage/currency and the pledge of allegiance did not always reference
“God”. The original motto on coins was
“E Pluribus Unum” this is a Latin phrase which means “One from many”. It was Rev. M.R. Watkinson, a minister from
very impressed with this letter, proceeded to instruct the
Director of the Mint in
Our nation’s pledge to the US Flag has a fairly recent
history. Francis Bellamy a minister who
was kicked out of his church for socialist beliefs, started writing for a well
circulated periodical called The Youth’s Companion. Bellamy composed the original version of
the pledge back in 1892. As a member and
chairman of the National Education System, he wanted to honor Columbus
Day in some way so, he organized the school children to recite his pledge in a
ceremonial way. We also honor the flag
on Flag Day. This pledge continues today in schools throughout the nation with
a few changes. In 1924 the words changed
from ‘my flag’ to ‘the flag’ and it wasn’t until 1954 when the words ‘under
God’ were added which was to show that our nation does believe in a supreme
being, who does watch over us. It was
noted how Bellamy was against the first word changes in 1924 and according to
his granddaughter, who expressed how he would not have approved of the ’under
God’ added in 1954 either. The word expressed in the Pledge of Allegiance is a
promise to our country and it signifies our nation’s unification.
Source Sited
http://www.google.com- all site based through Google
http://www.allabouthistory.org/in-god-we-trust.html- “In God We Trust - More Than A Motto?”.
Web.14 Mar 2011. This site discusses the religious history pertinent to the
motto on US coins and currency.
http://www.eagleforum.org/educate/declaration/declaration.html-
“
www.oldtimeislands.org/pledge/pledge.htm-
“The Pledge of Allegiance a Short History”. Web. 25 Mar 2011. The
article provides the history of the Pledge of Allegiance.
www.wvs.uscourts.gov/outreach/Pledge.htm- “The Pledge of Allegiance and Our
Flag of the
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_men_are_created_equal-
“All men are created equal.” and # 1. Origin of