Was the Pledge of Allegiance always 'under God'?

Reverend Francis J. Bellamy
Public Domain

High upon a hillside in Little Falls, New York sits a tiny park with a monument to "The Reverend Francis J. Bellamy, author of The Pledge of Allegiance."  Reverend Bellamy was minister of the First Baptist Church in Little Falls from 1879 to 1885.  During that time, he was also a member of the Little Falls Masonic Lodge No. 181.

What ended up costing Bellamy his Baptist ministry was an involvement with the Christian Socialist movement, which today would be akin to Liberation Theology or the Social Gospel doctrine.  After moving on to Boston, he became heavily involved with the schoolhouse flag movement.  The goal of this movement was to place an American flag atop each and every school in the nation.  This project afforded Bellamy an outlet for his unique patriotic fervor, a fervor which was rooted in his Christian Socialist ideals for America.

Bellamy's Pledge of Allegiance became the icing on this cake.  However, his original wording never mentioned America by name, nor did it contain any direct reference to God or the Divine.  Here is Bellamy's concise 1892 wording:  I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.  He was inspired by ideals of the Revolutionary War ("the Republic"), the Civil War ("one nation indivisible"), and the French Revolution ("liberty and justice for all").

This pledge was a rousing success - soon being recited throughout the land, complete with arm and hand gestures.  Yet the American public couldn't help but begin the editing process.  Bellamy's long-range recommendations were not only ignored, but also opposed.  The man who proclaimed "liberty and justice" throughout the land was once again being cast aside.

In 1923 and 1924, Bellamy's words "my Flag" were changed to "the Flag of the United States of America" by the American Legion and the Daughters of the American Revolution.  It wasn't until 1954 that the phrase "under God" was officially incorporated into the Pledge.  This took some doing, given the ongoing controversy regarding the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment.  Louis A. Bowman, Chaplain of the Illinois Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, is given credit for initiating this by linking it (on Lincoln's birthday) to Lincoln's Gettysburg Address.  With a whole lot of subsequent lobbying from the Catholic Knights of Columbus and the Presbyterians, President Eisenhower (who had just been baptized a Presbyterian) signed this bill on June 14 (Flag Day).

The controversy continues as challengers take their cases to federal courts in search of what they, too, consider to be "liberty and justice for all."  

Resources

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-man-who-wrote-the-pledge-of-allegiance-93907224/

https://www.ushistory.org/documents/pledge.htm