Patriotic Lesson

4/18/2024

Betsy Ross for Your Opening Exercises
Our living history museums are places where we can still offer a lesson in patriotism cloaked in the rich tradition of all of our country schools of the past. The Pledge of Allegiance was a staple among our country schools and continues today as the go to statement of love of country. If your schoolhouse pre-dates the Pledge of Allegiance, opening exercises would have been different than those post-1892. Why?

The Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag of the United States was first published in the juvenile periodical The Youth’s Companion on September 8, 1892, in the following form: “I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands; one nation indivisible, with liberty and Justice for all.” Presenters at CSAA conferences have schooled us in the history of the pledge noting controversies over authorship and the various changes made over the years. These CSAA presenters, including Maureen O'Connor Leach and Susan Webb offered us the background for how we might use the proper rendition of the pledge for our re-enactments. Their programs were longer and more fascinating than space allows on this post but we could convince Maureen to share her research here one day on The Report Card. (Note: Attend a CSAA conference and find many intriguing presentations each year!)

Earlier schoolhouses may or may not have had a flag displayed since the big push for visibility in schools came after the 1892 pledge was introduced. For opening exercises, schoolmarms and schoolmasters often relied on short history vignettes of bravery, loyalty, or patriotic duty designed to raise the consciousness and virtues of our future voting citizens. For example, often invoked were Washington crossing the Delaware, Lexington and Concord, Patrick Henry's, "Give me Liberty or give me death!" Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, or "Remember the Alamo!" Another more common theme related the traditional story of our first American flag, the so-called Betsy Ross flag....and its notable creator, Betsy Ross.

Our First Flag: The Story of Betsy Ross
If this sounds like something you might like to include in your living history program, here you'll find a synopsis of the accepted story of how Betsy was chosen by George Washington himself for the job of creating our first American flag. Fact or fiction has been debated, but it's mostly accepted that Betsy Griscum Ross Ashburn Claypoole played a significant role in the design of our first American flag prior to its evolution from stars in the round to rows of five-pointed stars on a canton of blue. (The background story of her marriages is also interesting!)

1. Our First Flag- The Story of Betsy Ross - CLICK ON THE BETSY ROSS FLAG.
2. Cut a 5-Pointed Star-CLICK ON THE TAN PICTURE.
3. YouTube Video -CUT AN ORIGAMI STAR...easier. CLICK ON THE BLACK BUTTON.

Also included is a recommendation for a definitive history book of the event in question that offers a volume of evidence (CLICK ON THE BOOK PICTURE). It is a fascinating look at Betsy and other notables who directed the design that would serve as a symbol of an emerging United States.