// BEGIN editorial data
 var i = 0;
var Pledge_History_060719 = new Array();
Pledge_History_060719.ID = "Pledge_History_060719";
Pledge_History_060719.ID_WB = 13941728;
Pledge_History_060719.sPubDate = "7/19/2006 10:54:20 PM GMT";
Pledge_History_060719.navsectionID = "3032091"
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Pledge_History_060719.BoxStyle = 3053751;
Pledge_History_060719.appWidth = 300;
Pledge_History_060719.appHeader = "Pledge of Allegiance | A short history";
Pledge_History_060719.appDeck = "Over the years, the Pledge of Allegiance has undergone many changes";
Pledge_History_060719.appFooter = "Associated Press";
Pledge_History_060719.rowAlt = "transparent";
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Pledge_History_060719[i++] = new Array("","The Civil War","","","","", "sub", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "");
Pledge_History_060719[i-1].body = "Concerns about immigration and a changing culture raised an interest in having schoolchildren honor the American flag.";

Pledge_History_060719[i++] = new Array("NNN","Columbus Day","","","","", "sub", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "");
Pledge_History_060719[i-1].body = "As a companion to Columbus Day celebrations in 1892, the magazine The Youth's Companion published a pledge of allegiance written by Francis Bellamy, a socialist editor and clergyman. President Benjamin Harrison proclaimed that it be included in school ceremonies observing the holiday that year.";

Pledge_History_060719[i++] = new Array("","Patriotic standardization","","","","", "sub", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "");
Pledge_History_060719[i-1].body = "Representatives of various patriotic organizations met in Washington in 1923 to standardize Bellamy's words as a national oath, according to Scot Guenter, professor of American studies at San Jose State University and author of \"The American Flag, 1777-1924.\"";

Pledge_History_060719[i++] = new Array("","One year later","","","","", "sub", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "");
Pledge_History_060719[i-1].body = "At a second gathering they decided to change \"my flag\" to \"the flag of the United States of America,\" Guenter said.";

Pledge_History_060719[i++] = new Array("","Supreme Court action","","","","", "sub", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "");
Pledge_History_060719[i-1].body = "Although the pledge had not been recognized by Congress, the Supreme Court in 1940 upheld a school district's requirement that students salute the flag and pledge allegiance to it.";

Pledge_History_060719[i++] = new Array("","First Amendment violation","","","","", "sub", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "");
Pledge_History_060719[i-1].body = "Three years later, the high court reversed itself, ruling that requiring public school students to salute the flag violated free speech protections in the First Amendment.";

Pledge_History_060719[i++] = new Array("","Official recognition","","","","", "sub", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "");
Pledge_History_060719[i-1].body = "In 1945 Congress officially recognized the Pledge of Allegiance, codifying it into law so that no one could change its words without congressional approval. President Eisenhower in 1954 asked Congress to add the phrase \"under God\" to the pledge.";

Pledge_History_060719[i++] = new Array("","Atheistic communism","","","","", "sub", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "");
Pledge_History_060719[i-1].body = "Ralph Luker, a historian who edited the first two volumes of Martin Luther King Jr.'s papers, said in an interview that the 1954 change was intended to differentiate the United States from nations that practiced \"atheistic communism.\"";

	// END editorial data