Francis Bellamy visited President Benjamin Harrison in Washington DC. to ask him to endorse the idea of a flag over every school and the teaching of patriotism in all schools. On June 21, 1892, President Harrison signed the proclamation which read: Let the National Flag float over every schoolhouse in the country and the exercised be such as shall impress upon our youth the patriotic duty of American citizenship.
Bellamy wrote these famous words, first printed in "Youth’s Companion" on September 8, 1892:
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.
At the Second National Flag Conference, held in Washington D.C. on Flag Day, 1924, they added the words "of America’. A further change was made by House Joint Resolution 243, approved by President Dwight Eisenhower on June 14, 1954. This amended the language by adding the words" under God" so that it now reads:
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.
Often we hear people recite the Pledge: "...one Nation (pause) under God...". There is no comma after ‘Nation’, and there is no reason to pause as many people do. This extra pause destroys the meaning of these great lines. We must remember that we are one nation under God. Teach Scouts to repeat it properly.