"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 words of the Pledge of Allegiance, adopted by Congress on June 22, 1942, are familiar. But most Americans probably don’t know the history of those words, and the changes they have gone through over time.
Pledge Timeline
September 9, 1892: The pledge is introduced in the magazine The Youth’s Companion as part of a program to celebrate Columbus Day in schools across the country. The words were written by Francis
On June 28, 1919, one of the most controversial political documents in recent history was signed at the Palace of Versailles. President Wilson, Georges Clemenceau of France, Prime Minister David Lloyd George of Britain, and Vittorio Emanuele Orlando of Italy signed surrender terms that imposed harsh penalties on Germany and Austria. The Great War had cost millions of lives, and Europe was beset by revolutionary sentiment on all sides.
The treaty stipulated the return of Alsace and Lorraine to France, the Rhine area was to be demilitarized, and strict limits were placed on German and Austrian
On June 27, 1950, President Truman announced that the US would be sending air and naval troops to Korea. The conflict on the other side of the world had begun two days before when North Korea invaded South Korea in an effort to unify the two countries. The United Nations and the United States both intervened, hoping to stop the spread of Communism, but the war ended with a stalemate at the 38th parallel—which divides North and South Korea to this day. To relive history as it happened, visit the Truman Library, which has a collection of fascinating audio files on the progress of the war.
For
Desire for a civil service job might seem like an odd reason to commit a capital crime—but it was one of the reasons given by the man who assassinate President James A. Garfield, Charles J. Guiteau. He shot the President on July 2, 1881, and Garfield died two months later, on September 19, 1881.
Charles Julius Guiteau employed the unusual medium of poetry to plead his innocence. His odd behavior in court made him a media sensation. While the poem shown here was never published, Guiteau was obviously worried about his historical legacy. The verse illustrates his obsession with fame.
I
The Battle of the Little Bighorn looms large in American history. Civil War hero and larger-than-life general George Custer and more than two hundred of his men died along Montana’s Little Bighorn River. On June 25 and 26, 1876, Custer and men of the 7th Cavalry faced several thousand Lakota and Cheyenne warriors. It was one of the Indians’ last victories. Today, the battlefield is a National Battlefield and place of reflection containing both Custer National Cemetery and an Indian Memorial dedicated in 2003.
General Custer had a long history with the Cheyenne. The Gilder Lehrman Collection
The Battle of Gettysburg, fought in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, from July 1 to July 3, 1863, ended with a victory for Union General George Meade and the Army of the Potomac.
The three-day battle was the bloodiest in the war, with approximately 51,000 casualties. Even with such heavy losses, it proved to be a significant victory for the Union. The Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, under General Robert E. Lee, had invaded Union territory and was moving through southern Pennsylvania with an eye to Harrisburg, the state capital. General Lee hoped that defeating the Union army in a large battle
On July 2, 1776, the Continental Congress voted in favor of independence. The following day John Adams wrote home from Philadelphia that "the Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. . . . from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more."
What he did not know was that July 4, the day Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence, would become "the great anniversary Festival."
Learn more in an essay about
The radio journalists at NPR followed some of the 20,000 New York City students who are getting a chance to see the Broadway smash Hamilton thanks to a program of The Rockefeller Foundation and the Gilder Lehrman Institute. A capstone of the Hamilton Education Program is the performance piece based on historical documents that each student must create before coming to the show. Selected students even get to perform at the Richard Rodgers Theatre before the matinee!
Check out the inspiring stories and some of the student performances from NPR.
Over the past week those nations involved in World War I have been commemorating the devastating Battle of the Somme, which raged over 141 days starting on July 1, 1916, and resulted in more than a million casualties. On the first day alone more than 19,000 British soldiers lost their lives. Although the United States did not enter the war until 1917, American poet Alan Seeger fought with the French Foreign Legion and died at the Somme on July 4, 1916. A year later, the first American troops landed in Europe. Read Seeger’s portentous poem "I Have a Rendezvous with Death" below.
World War I
Thirty-two years ago today Walter Mondale made the unprecedented move of selecting a woman as his running mate on the Democratic ticket for the presidency. He chose Geraldine Ferraro, a member of Congress from Queens, New York, and a former district attorney. Ferraro’s opening remarks upon joining the campaign addressed the momentousness of her selection:
When Fritz Mondale asked me to be his running mate he sent a powerful signal about the direction he wants to lead our country. American history is about doors being open, doors of opportunity for everyone no matter who you are, as long as
The Potsdam Conference, which began on July 17, 1945, was the third meeting of the "Big Three," after Tehran and Yalta, to address the waging of WWII. But this time the cast was different, FDR’s death thrusting Harry Truman into the spotlight. Here, in a more jovial than usual encounter, are the representatives of the Big Three: British prime minister Winston Churchill, US president Harry Truman, and Soviet leader Joseph Stalin.
The war in Europe had come to an end with Germany’s surrender in May, and the tensions that would lead to the Cold War were already evident in the discussions about
No, we’re not referring to the fact the Lin-Manuel Miranda has left the lead in his Broadway smash. On this day in 1804 Alexander Hamilton died from injuries sustained in a duel with Aaron Burr.
Find out more about Hamilton’s life and death through the wealth of resources we’ve created here at the Gilder Lehrman Institute.
We’re excited to team up with Google Cultural Institute on the launch of their American Democracy initiative! The project brings together more than 60 online exhibits from museums, archives, and institutions around the country, and includes seven Gilder Lehrman Institute exhibits that showcase our materials on political figures such as Alexander Hamilton, democratic movements like abolitionism, and presidential campaigns. This includes Electing the President, a new exhibition that explores American elections from George Washington to Barack Obama, and the many contested and controversial
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men and women are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; that to secure these rights governments are instituted, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.
In 1848 the modest Wesleyan Chapel in Seneca Falls in upstate New York was the site of a groundbreaking gathering. The two-day event was the first women’s rights convention in history. Modeling their Declaration of Sentiments on the Declaration of Independence
Today we say Happy Birthday to Henry Knox, one of the stars of the Gilder Lehrman Collection. Henry grew up in Boston, Massachusetts. When Henry was nine, the family was in serious financial straits. Henry left school to help support his mother and younger brother, and his father went to sea. He died three years later, never having returned home.
Henry worked for a bookseller and, by the age of 21, he opened his own bookshop, joined an artillery company in Boston, and married one of the wealthiest young women in Boston. Despite marrying into a Tory family, Henry was a patriot. He read widely
After the Constitutional Convention adopted the US Constitution in September 1787, the long and contentious road to its ratification began. Each state formed a special convention to vote on ratification. The pressure was on: at a minimum, nine states out of thirteen would have to ratify the document for it to be federally instituted. On July 26, after over a month of intense deliberation, New York became the eleventh state to ratify the Constitution. The final vote was precariously close: 30 voted in favor, and 27 against.
The debate forged a split between the Federalists, who supported
From the time of the founding of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1830, its members, also known as Mormons, faced persecution. In 1844, the church’s founder, Joseph Smith, was murdered in Illinois. Seeking a safer place to settle, a large group of Mormons emigrated to the Salt Lake Valley, arriving on July 24, 1847. There they established the religious state of Deseret.
Fourteen years later Samuel Russell, his mother, and his sisters emigrated to Salt Lake. The next spring, Russell joined a "down-and-back" wagon train to escort new pioneers to the settlement. It was a six-
On October 3, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln issued a proclamation calling on all Americans "in every part of the United States . . . to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next as a Day of Thanksgiving and Prayer to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens."
Though the United States was embroiled in a bloody and destructive civil war, President Lincoln reminded the nation that there was still much to be thankful for: "The year that is drawing toward its close has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies . . . Peace has been preserved
This year we recognized 50 teachers as State History Teachers of the Year. These exceptional educators were awarded $1,000 and an archive of books and resources for their school library, and were honored in state ceremonies. But who are they, really? We asked several state winners to answer a few questions about themselves. Each week of October, we’ll be featuring two teachers’ answers—so check back to get to know more about these outstanding teachers! This week, meet
Shane C. Gower, 2016 Maine History Teacher of the Year
Maranacook Community High School, Readfield
Q: Out of the historical
On October 7, 1763, King George III issued a Proclamation that would cause much resentment among American colonists. During the Seven Years’ War—also called the French and Indian War—England, with the assistance of such American colonists as George Washington, won territory in North America from France. The Proclamation forbade white settlement on lands west of the Appalachian Mountains, which would be "preserved to the said Indians." In keeping American colonists out of the newly won land, England hoped to avoid further conflict with Indian tribes and exert better control over colonial
On October 12, 1492, after a two-month voyage, Christopher Columbus landed on an island in the Bahamas he called San Salvador—though the people of the island called it Guanahani. From there, Columbus and his men traveled around the Carribbean for five months, taking particular interest in the islands of Juana (now Cuba) and Hispaniola (the Dominican Republic and Haiti). In a 1493 letter to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, Columbus reported on his experience and actions upon landing on each island, writing,
I discovered many islands, thickly peopled, of which I took possession without
This year we recognized 50 teachers as State History Teachers of the Year. These exceptional educators were awarded $1,000 and an archive of books and resources for their school library, and were honored in state ceremonies. But who are they, really? We asked several state winners to answer a few questions about themselves. This week, meet
Shari Conditt, 2016 Washington State History Teacher of the Year
Q: What's the best history book—American or otherwise—you’ve ever read? A: That’s a challenging question. My favorite seems to change over time. I thoroughly enjoyed Candace Millard’s Destiny
In coordination with our 2017 Calendar of World War II and to commemorate Veterans Day, we’re inviting teachers to submit photographs of military monuments or memorials taken by K–12 students in their classes. Up to ten winners will each receive a $100 gift certificate to purchase materials for their classroom from the Gilder Lehrman History Shop.
The competition runs from October 1 through November 7, 2016, and the winners will be posted on our 2017 Calendar of World War II Extras web page on Veterans Day, November 11, 2016.
To submit student photographs or to view guidelines for submission
On October 24, 1929, the stock market experienced its first major crisis in the Wall Street Crash of 1929, eventually leading to the Great Depression. On that day, known as Black Thursday, stock prices fell sharply as investors rushed to sell off their stocks. Stocks were being traded at such a high volume that the ticker tape on which they were printed showed hours-long delays. Five days later, on Black Tuesday, the stock market experienced the greatest crash in its history.
Discover essays, primary source documents, and multimedia about the Great Depression on the Gilder Lehrman website
Yesterday, we honored Kevin Cline of Indiana as the 2016 National History Teacher of the Year in an exciting ceremony at the Yale Club. Mr. Cline’s award was presented by historian Gordon S. Wood, Alva O. Way University Professor and Professor of History Emeritus at Brown University.
Learn a bit more about Kevin Cline, National History Teacher of the Year, with the Q and A below!
Q: What’s the best history book—American or otherwise—you’ve ever read?A: I read Killer Angels by Michael Shaara and The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien when I was younger, and would say that my enjoyment of them
