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To the Flag - The Unlikely History of the Pledge of Allegiance (Paperback)
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To the Flag - The Unlikely History of the Pledge of Allegiance (Paperback)
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For over one hundred years, it has been deeply ingrained in
American culture. Saluting the flag in public schools began as part
of a national effort to Americanize immigrants, its final six words
imbuing it with universal hope and breathtaking power. Now Richard
Ellis unfurls the fascinating history of the Pledge of Allegiance
and of the debates and controversies that have sometimes surrounded
it. For anyone who has ever recited those thirty-one words, To the
Flag provides an unprecedented historical perspective on recent
challenges to the Pledge. As engaging as it is informative, it
traces the story from the Pledge's composition by Francis Bellamy
in 1892 up to the Supreme Court's action in 2004 regarding atheist
Michael Newdow's objection to the words "under God." Ellis is
especially good at highlighting aspects of this story that might
not be familiar to most readers: the schoolhouse flag movement, the
codification of the Pledge at the First National Flag Conference in
1923, changing styles of salute, and the uses of the Pledge to
quell public concerns over sundry strains of radicalism. Created
against the backdrop of rapid immigration, the Pledge has continued
for over a century to be injected into American politics at times
of heightened anxiety over the meaning of our national identity.
Ellis analyzes the text of the Pledge to tell how the very words
"indivisible" and "allegiance" were intended to invoke Civil War
sentiments-and how "with liberty and justice for all" forms a
capsule expression of the American creed. He also examines the
introduction of "under God" as an anti-Communist declaration in the
1950s, demonstrating that the phrase is not mere ceremonial Deism
but rather a profound expression of what has been called America's
"civil religion." The Pledge has inspired millions but has also
been used to promote conformity and silence dissent-indeed its
daily recitation in schools and legislatures tells us as much about
our anxieties as a nation as it does about our highest ideals.
Ellis reveals how, for over a century, those who have been most
fearful about threats to our national identity have often been most
insistent on the importance of patriotic rituals. Indeed, by
addressing this inescapable paradox of our civic life, Ellis opens
a new and unexpected window on the American soul.
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