US Pledge of Allegiance

The Pledge of Allegiance is a patriotic recited verse that promises allegiance to the flag of the United States and the republic of the United States of America. The first version was written in 1885 by Captain George Thatcher Balch, a Union Army officer in the Civil War, and revised in 1892 by Francis Bellamy as part of a magazine promotion surrounding the World's Columbian Exposition. Bellamy's version of the pledge is largely the same as the one formally adopted by Congress in 1942, with the most recent alteration coming in 1954 when the words "under God" were added. The Pledge is commonly recited at congressional sessions, government meetings, and school assemblies, although students are not required to recite it and can be exempt from doing so in several states. The origins of the Pledge date back to the Civil War, when there were surges in American patriotic oaths and pledges to the flag, and the first pledge was created in 1887 by Captain George T. Balch.learn more on wikipedia