The Butchery Of The Pledge - A Mystery
© 2002-2004 by J. Alec West

Once upon a time, Herman Melville (author of the classic novel, Moby Dick) sat down to read his evening newspaper. As he was sipping brandy, he came across an article that caught his attention immediately. And, by the time he was done reading it, his mouth was gaping wide open and his brandy glass had slipped from his shaking fist and fallen to the floor. The article mentioned a recent professional whaling association convention. The whaler-delegates had decided that the first sentence of Moby Dick was inappropriate -- that it needed to be revised to make reference to the whaling industry. So, without asking Melville for permission to revise his classic novel, the convention delegates took it upon themselves to change the novel's first sentence from:

Call me Ishmael.

...to...

Ishmael's the name and whaling's my game.

Melville was livid, swearing to himself, "How DARE those men put their words into my mouth ... into my manuscript ... without asking me for permission to do so???" He immediately sent the whaling association a stern letter demanding an explanation. No reply came ... and Melville died without any satisfaction for his protest. But, the revisions didn't stop there. A few years later, a religious group felt that since all good whalers were God-fearing men, "God" needed to be part of the first sentence as well. This group was so adamant about this that they lobbied the President of the United States to allow for one more revision ... to:

Ishmael's the name and, by God, whaling's my game.

Melville's heirs protested but, again, the protests were ignored ... and the butchery of the original classic novel was set in stone.

A fairy tale? Yup. Rest assured that everything you've just read is fiction. The first sentence of Melville's classic novel was never changed. But, this fairy tale does have a real-life counterpart. The butchery you've just read about is exactly what happened to the "Pledge To The Flag" (a manuscript now called the "Pledge Of Allegiance"). When originally written by Francis Bellamy in 1892, it read this way:

I pledge allegiance to my flag, and to the republic for which it stands - one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Bellamy wrote it for a one-time reading during Columbus Day celebrations in 1892 Boston -- to celebrate the 400th Anniversary of Columbus' arrival. Youth's Companion magazine published it and, over time, it became a tradition to recite this Pledge in the classrooms of U.S. schools. But, not everyone liked this Pledge as it was.

In 1923, a group of delegates attended the National Flag Conference. This convention was held under the auspices/direction of two organizations - the American Legion and Daughters of the American Revolution. During the convention, delegates decided to revise the pledge to this:

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States, and to the republic for which it stands - one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

This revision was made without any attempt to contact Bellamy for his permission or consent. Finding out about it came as a complete surprise (and shock) to him. But, conventioneers weren't even satisfied with that revision. The very next year, delegates to the 1924 National Flag Conference revised it one more time to this (over Bellamy's objections to both revisions):

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands - one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

This 1924 revision occurred 7 years before Bellamy's death. However, three more revisions were to come. The first came in 1942 though not a textual revision. Traditionally, the "Pledge To The Flag" was read by civilians while raising their right hands (as opposed to a salute done by military personnel). This raising of the right hand was referred to as the "Bellamy Salute." However, in 1942, some Americans began to worry that the "Bellamy Salute" too closely resembled the Nazi salute. So, Congress formally incorporated the Pledge into U.S. Flag Code ... and changed the Bellamy Salute from a "raised" right hand to a right hand held over the heart. The second revision came in 1945 when Congress decided to "officially" revise the title from the Pledge To The Flag to the Pledge Of Allegiance. The third revision (and currently, the bone of contention in courts) occurred on Flag Day, 1954.

The Knights Of Columbus, a Catholic organization, lobbied President Eisenhower heavily. To differentiate the United States from the "godless communists," they felt it was important to include God in the Pledge Of Allegiance. President Eisenhower agreed and asked Congress (over the objections of Bellamy's son, David, who died 6 years later in 1960) to make one final revision to the pledge -- which, until the recent 9th Circuit Court ruling, was the official version:

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands - one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

For what it's worth, the objections of Bellamy and his son to the revisions were hardly God-related. Francis Bellamy was a Baptist minister. Bellamy merely felt that no one had the right to put their words into his mouth ... or manuscript, for that matter. His son, David, apparently felt likewise. And, in case you're wondering why they didn't do anything "legally" to protest the revisions, the reason is simple. Bellamy didn't file for copyright protection. But, even if he had filed, it wouldn't have made any difference. The prevailing copyright law when the "Pledge To The Flag" was written was the Copyright Act of 1789. Initially, the law allowed for 14 years of protection (through 1906). In 1906, the Copyright Act of 1789 was still the prevailing law (it didn't change until 1909). So, protection could only be extended for 14 more years (through 1920) ... three years prior to its first revision. So, the "Pledge To The Flag" would have lost any copyright protection in 1920 -- and the manuscript would have automatically passed into the public domain.

As a political moderate, I find it interesting that conservatives tend to whine a lot about liberal historical revisionism ... but are quick to forgive their own revisionism if revisions are done for purposes of patriotic chest-beating and flag-waving. To conservatives who feel this lack of copyright protection on the Pledge gives them the right to alter posterity, I remind them that the Constitution is also unprotected by Copyright Law. Does that give me the right to revise the first three words from We The People... to Us Folks...? I'd be willing to bet hard money on something. If a person or group suggested such a revision, those same conservatives who have no problem with sullying the original "Pledge To The Flag" would be shouting hypocritically, "Hey wait a minute! You can't do that!!!" This is not to say that all hypocrisy is conservative. When's the last time you saw a liberal atheist refuse to accept and cash a paycheck that included "Christmas holiday" pay?

The one thing copyright law lacks is a provision mandating historic preservation ... the inherent right of all historic documents and material to be left alone. However, our founding fathers surely implied this protection. This is why we can only "amend" the Constitution (add to it in a separate after-the-fact document) but cannot alter the original text of the Constitution to suit our whims and fancies.

In closing, let me say three things. First, I know I'm a lone voice in the wilderness of opinion. But to me, this is not a God issue. It's an issue of historic preservation and author rights ... and a controversy that began at the National Flag Conference in 1923 -- not with the 9th Circuit Court in 2002. And, though their decision to remove under God from the Pledge was made for an entirely different reason, I applaud any decision that serves to return the manuscript to its original historic state as Francis Bellamy wrote it. Secondly, I'm well aware that the original "Pledge To The Flag" is only 23 words long. But, the shortness of a manuscript does not make it any less a manuscript. If you doubt this, perform this experiment:

(1) - Publish Carl Sandburg's poem, "Fog" ... revising the words "cat feet" to "dog paws."

(2) - Send a note to the Sandburg Family Trust, telling them you revised the poem without asking their permission or consent ... and republished it because you feel the revised version is a better version.

(3) - Get a lawyer (grin). "Fog" is a 21-word poem, two words shorter than the original "Pledge To The Flag." However, just because the poem is short doesn't mean the Sandburg Family Trust doesn't consider it to be a manuscript.

"Fog" was copyrighted in 1919. Under the provisions of the Copyright Act of 1909, initial and extended protection totaled 56 years (expiring in 1975). But, recent changes in copyright law have anointed copyrights "existing" from 1973 forward with "life-plus-50-years" protection for the author. Sandburg died in 1967. Therefore, copyright protection doesn't expire on "Fog" until the year 2017.

Thirdly, I'll bet you're wondering why I partially titled this article "A MYSTERY." History is rarely simple, nor should it be. Simple history is much less entertaining than complicated history that makes you wonder. So, what's the complication?

Francis Bellamy claimed he wrote the "Pledge To The Flag." His son, David Bellamy, later reiterated this claim. However, just because no one disputed this claim doesn't mean it was a truthful claim. Youth's Companion magazine published the "Pledge To The Flag" without byline. And, it's possible that Bellamy himself is guilty of historical revision of a "borrowed" pledge. For that truth, you'd have to go back 27 years to 1865. Abraham Lincoln had always planned to offer complete amnesty to captured Confederate soldiers when hostilities ceased. However, this amnesty had a pricetag. Before release, each captured soldier had to raise their right hand and recite a pledge of allegiance to the United States. In that pledge, the bones of contention weren't God-related ... but the words "one nation, indivisible..." This pledge was written by a very young (born in 1845) Union officer named James Upham. Now, fast-forward back to 1892. Name the co-owners & co-editors of Youth's Companion magazine. Daniel Ford & James Upham.

Who really wrote the original Pledge? When was it written? And, was it written for a patriotic purpose -- or as a final humiliating climax to a defeated Confederate nation? Sadly, the answers to these questions continue to remain a mystery -- for now. One final note of mystery, though. Youth's Companion magazine, while co-owned and co-edited by Ford & Upham, was published by a Boston firm called "The Perry Mason Company." This makes me wonder whether Erle Stanley Gardner, the author/creator of Perry Mason mysteries (and born in Malden, Massachusetts - north of Boston) was aware of the firm's existence when he chose the name of his famous lawyer-protagonist. Oh well, another unsolved mystery.

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Please note that my assertions surrounding James Upham's possible authorship of the "Pledge To The Flag" are based largely on conjecture. Upham never once (during his life) claimed authorship. However, Upham's heirs disputed Bellamy's authorship. In 1939, the U.S. Flag Association claimed to "resolve" the dispute in Bellamy's favor. Later, in 1957, the Library of Congress Legislative Reference Service issued a report affirming Francis Bellamy as the author of the Pledge. But neither decision stopped the Upham estate from continuing to challenge these decisions (possibly as late as 1980). Each estate provided as much evidence as possible for academic scrutiny. The Bellamy evidence (called "The David Bellamy Papers") is currently archived by the University of Rochester's Rush Rhees Library. Where the Upham evidence may be archived is something I don't know. Most of this evidence was "hearsay" evidence - correspondence, references to the Pledge found in other manuscripts, etc. However, while the U.S. Flag Association and Library of Congress affirm Bellamy's authorship, no "academic" authority has ever assigned authorship to either gentleman. But, since claims from the Upham estate were not substantiated with prima facie evidence, the 1939 U.S. Flag Association decision and 1957 Library of Congress decision remain in force and are accepted as valid by the University of Rochester. In short, authorship will continue to be attributed to Bellamy until proven otherwise in some conclusive manner.

In the meantime, I feel we must remember something very important. No one ... not the American Legion or Daughters of the American Revolution, not the Knights Of Columbus or Catholic Church, not the President of the United States or Congress, nor me, you, or anyone else OWNS the Pledge. It is an historic manuscript and we're all merely stewards of it. I hope that sometime in the future, we can see beyond the religious and anti-religious rhetoric being tossed back and forth to recognize our responsibility to preserve this historic manuscript as its original author, whoever it may be, intended it to remain.

J. Alec West (7-24-2002)

The following is strictly for purposes of humor and is not part of the article. It is provided as an "answer" to those who feel it's OK to alter posterity. In theory (since Moby Dick is a public domain manuscript), I should have the right to revise it any way I see fit. So, below, I've done just that. On the left is the first paragraph of Chapter One, exactly as Herman Melville wrote it. On the right is the same paragraph, revised to the Ebonic dialect. Mind you, I'm not claiming to be an expert on this dialect. However, my son listened to exceptionally loud hip-hop music for four years while growing up. As my room was next to his, I became an unwilling listener to these lyrics. But, rest assured that I removed some of the more "colorful" phrases common in hip-hop -- and that the revision is therefore "clean" (almost).

Apologies to Melville's ghost (grin) in the hopes he won't haunt me for this.


MOBY DICK
Chapter One: Loomings

Call me Ishmael. Some years ago - never mind how long precisely - having little or no money in my purse, and nothing particular to interest me on shore, I thought I would sail about a little and see the watery part of the world. It is a way I have of driving off the spleen and regulating the circulation. Whenever I find myself growing grim about the mouth; whenever it is a damp, drizzly November in my soul; whenever I find myself involuntarily pausing before coffin warehouses, and bringing up the rear of every funeral I meet; and especially whenever my hypos get such an upper hand of me, that it requires a strong moral principle to prevent me from deliberately stepping into the street, and methodically knocking people's hats off - then, I account it high time to get to sea as soon as I can. This is my substitute for the pistol and ball. With a philosophical flourish Cato throws himself upon his sword; I quietly take to the ship. There is nothing surprising in this. If they but knew it, almost all men in their degree, some time or other, cherish very nearly the same feelings toward the ocean with me.
Da Honky-Ass White Whale
Rap One: Da Loomin' Tings

Dey call me Ishmael, fool. Back a spell, can't process da timeline, I gots no bread ta butta and nuthin' ta hang fo - know what I'm sayin'? So, steda vegitatin' in da crib, I decides ta visit me some mermaids big-time. Keeps da juices workin', bro. Yo! Fixatin' on da blues, I kin git edgy sometimes - cleanin' clocks, packin' metal, cappin' shrooms, and gen'ly bein' da public nuisance. And when dat happens, I go find me some mermaids, Jim. Was mo, all bros be thinkin' da same damn ting if they's bein' true-minded. They be lookin' fo mermaids, too. Dig it.