Every American kid knows the words to the Pledge of Allegiance—but almost nobody knows where it actually came from.
In this episode, Gordy uncovers the unexpected story behind one of America’s most repeated rituals: a pledge born from a children’s magazine, written by a socialist Baptist minister, and once performed with a salute that history has quietly erased.
From its 19th-century debut at the Chicago World’s Fair to its Cold War transformation into a patriotic creed, the Pledge has mirrored America’s shifting ideals—unity, fear, and faith all baked into a single sentence.
Why did it change? Who decided to add “under God”? And what did that original salute look like that forced Congress to rewrite the rulebook in 1942?
Gordy breaks down how this classroom ritual evolved from a marketing stunt to a national symbol, revealing the politics, propaganda, and cultural forces that shaped it.
👉 Watch to the end to see how a simple school recitation turned into one of the most debated patriotic acts in U.S. history.
#PledgeOfAllegiance #AmericanHistory #FrancisBellamy #USHistory #Patriotism #EducationHistory #DailyFacts #HistoryFacts Music thanks to Zapsplat.
Sources
Bellamy, F. (1892). The Youth’s Companion.
Library of Congress (2024). The Pledge of Allegiance: A Short History.
United States Code, 36 U.S.C. § 172 (1942).
Supreme Court of the United States. West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette, 319 U.S. 624 (1943).
Smithsonian Magazine (2023). “The Man Behind the Pledge of Allegiance.”
Chicago Historical Society (2022). World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893.