By Dorothy Brush / dcb1@frontier.net
Several years ago I saved an article headlined ‘Americans falter on civics.’ It gave the results of a study done by the nonprofit Intercollegiate Studies Institute. The head of their American Civic Literacy Program said of the findings, “Without knowledge of your country’s history, key texts and institutions, you don’t have a frame of reference to judge the politics and policies of today.”
The study included high-school dropouts, college graduates and elected officials and found all “alarmingly uninformed” about United States history, founding principles and the economy. Seventy-one percent earned an F! Of those respondents who had held public office, 43 percent did not know the Electoral College is a constitutionally mandated assembly that elects the president. One in five thought it “trains those aspiring for higher office” or “was established to supervise the first televised presidential debates.”
Webster defines civics as the branch of political science that deals with civic affairs or citizenship, municipal or civil. As this nation evolved the citizens were deeply involved in the process from the beginning. A Vermont magazine recently wrote, “If democratic governance is the heart of of a good society Vermont’s history has shown that a society based on the town meeting tradition has the strongest heart of all.”
And yet today as town meetings have seen a revival across the country they are met with mixed reactions. One group believes there are conspirators responsible for the crowds appearing. Others believe the crowds come because they want answers to their many questions. Unfortunately the attendees who become raucous and ignore civil behavior are the ones that get the attention.
Here in Cumberland County the Learning Community organization focuses on being a Community of Character. Their April newsletter was devoted to citizenship, not only for adults but suggestions on helping children, from infancy on, learn and practice citizenship.
With all the good suggestions there was one missing that was important to the founders of this country, patriotism. Doesn’t citizenship include patriots, persons who love, support, and defends their country? Searching for an answer my mind went back to my first year of school and the Pledge of Allegiance. Each day began with each student, hand over heart reciting those words to the flag.
The history of those few words began when it appeared in the September 8, 1892 issue of Youth’s Companion magazine. The editor had assigned Francis Bellamy to write it because he felt that each school ceremony marking the 400th anniversary of Columbus’ voyage to America that year should begin with a salute to the flag. That first version read, “I pledge allegiance to my Flag and to the Republic for which it stands — one Nation indivisible — with liberty and justice for all.”
Editor James B. Upham saw his idea come to life when that pledge was recited October 21, 1892 as part of a National School Celebration on the 400th anniversary of Columbus’ discovery. This year the pledge is 117 years old. There have been several changes in the original version. The first was made during The First National Flag Conference in Washington, D.C. in 1923. “My flag” was changed to “the flag of the United States.” The next year “of America” was added. The last change was made in 1954 when by an act of Congress “under God” was added between the word “nation” and “indivisible.”
Reciting the Pledge in the classroom was attacked as early as 1915 and in court in 1940 and ’43 and continues to be questioned. However, in June of this year it was reported the Pledge is used daily in schools across the United States.
It has been many, many years since I was a first-grader but the words of the Pledge of Allegiance was one of the first steps in my understanding of good citizenship. In 1984 the American Farm Bureau Federation adopted this policy statement which expresses that idea well. “The foundation of a strong, unified America is based on respect, pride, and love of country by its citizens. We encourage a greater effort on the part of adults to set an example which will help instill these qualities in youth. We favor teaching and practicing the flag code in schools and urge the Pledge of Allegiance be regularly recited.”
