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The US Pledge of Allegiance

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.

The original pledge, written by socialist Francis Bellamy in 1892, said "I pledge allegiance to my flag and the republic for which it stands, one nation indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

It was not until 1954 that the US Congress added "under God." A British citizen and Presbyterian pastor George Docherty played a key role in persuading President Eisenhower to support the change. He had regularly sung "God Save the King" as a child in Scotland and resented the absence of reference to a divine being in the American pledge.

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