The synchronized Pledge Across America is conducted each year on September 17 –

Constitution Day Constitution Day is a holiday to honour the constitution of a country. Constitution Day is often celebrated on the anniversary of the signing, promulgation or adoption of the constitution, or in some cases, to commemorate the change to constitut ...

. Pledge Across America is the nationally synchronized recitation of the

Pledge of Allegiance The Pledge of Allegiance of the United States is a patriotic recited verse that promises allegiance to the flag of the United States and the republic of the United States of America. The first version, with a text different from the one used ...

in schools. In 2001 shortly after September 11 the

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United Stat ...

and the

United States Secretary of Education The United States secretary of education is the head of the United States Department of Education, U.S. Department of Education. The secretary serves as the principal advisor to the president of the United States, and the federal government, on ...

and both the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

and

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

joined over 52 million students in the synchronized Pledge of Allegiance to the flag. September 17, 2008 marked the 17th year the Pledge Across America takes place, and it also marked 117 years since

Francis Bellamy Francis Julius Bellamy (May 18, 1855 – August 28, 1931) was an American Christian socialism, Christian socialist Baptist minister and author. He is best known for writing the original version of the Pledge of Allegiance in 1892. Early life Fr ...

wrote and first recited the Pledge of Allegiance in 1892.

Sources

{{no footnotes, date=August 2010 * https://web.archive.org/web/20081210074428/http://www.pledgeacrossamerica.org/ * http://www.celebrationusa.org/aboutus.htm * http://www.linkedin.com/in/celebrationusa * http://usgovinfo.about.com/library/weekly/aa101001a.htm * http://www.ed.gov/news/photos/2001/1012/edlite-1012_1.html * https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2002/09/20020917-7.html September events Pledge of Allegiance