How Two Words Changed History

Parker Bell

Taylor Bell

Junior Division

Group Website

Word Count: 411

 How Two Words Changed History

When we were assigned a History Fair Project, we immediately began to think about

what was going on in our country and community. We wanted to see if anything jumped out at

us. At the time, our school system was answering questions about a form placed in the Student

Code of Conduct that allowed parents the option of excluding their student was reciting the

Pledge of Allegiance. This got us thinking about the two words that were at the center of the

controversy, under God. In coming up with our project we wanted to see how those two words,

that have caused so much controversy came to be. We found out that it was President Dwight D.

Eisenhower that took pen to hand and made the two words, under God part of our daily lives

making a stand for God in our country.

In order to start our research, we immediately turned to the web to see if we could even

find out who was responsible for adding the two words to the pledge. That led us to finding out

more information about President Dwight Eisenhower and how he came to sign into law the

revised Pledge of Allegiance. In researching our topic, we also began to look at the historical

context of the words under God as well as the controversy concerning the words. We

discovered numerous court cases where lawsuits have been brought against school district and

even the government as to the constitutionality of the pledge. We gathered as much research as

we could to look at the historical context of the Pledge, court cases involving the Pledge and the

motive behind the decision to change the Pledge.

We decided to choose a website because it seemed like the best method to showcase our

research. We felt that since many of the resources were digital, that we could use the website

platform to weave our project together and adequately present our project.
 This history fair project will look to examine how two words have changed history. In

1954, when President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the law amending the Pledge of Allegiance

with the addition of the words under God he made it clear that the two simple words embody a

governmental preference for religion. President Eisenhower made God a focal point of our

government and our way of life.