The case West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette, 319 U.S. 624, is a case that really expresses the beliefs and interests of the time. The case reached the US Supreme Court after there was huge controversy on both sides of the debate. It just so happened that three years before this case, in 1940, the US Supreme Court ruled in the case of the Minnersville School District v. Gobitis, 310 U.S. 586, that it was necessary for every school student to stand to salute and pledge allegiance to the flag. The act of saluting and pledging, along with the teaching of American history and ideals "for the purpose of teaching, fostering and perpetuating the ideals, principles and spirit of Americanism, and increasing the knowledge of the organization and machinery of the government."- 1 The justices voted 8 to 1 for the Minnersville School District to force teachers to salute and pledge to the flag, leaving only Justice Harlan Ston

During the Second World War (1939 - 1945), the government was eager to make sure that the union was really united. The sign that someone was saluting the flag raised eyebrows for more than the said reasons. Not only did they disrespect the rules of this nation, but the Jehovah's Witnesses were also thought to have double interests. They thought the Witnesses could easily have been a threat to national security because they could a stirred a revolt amongst those who didn't support the war.

The boy, Walter Barnette, was taken out of class when he refused to stand for the pledge of allegiance. He was accused of disrupting the class, of being obnoxious, and of being a threat to national security. No matter how much of an overreaction this was, we have to remember this happened in the year 1943, about the time the Second World War broke out and at a time nationalism in this country was running high.

In the case West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette, 319 U.S. 624, the judges decided that the board of education could not force any student to salute the American flag and recite the pledge of allegiance. This was a case where the very existence of the United States was at the hands of these fine justices as we know it. If it wasn't for the extremely knowledgeable justices that judged the case, we would have lost something profoundly special.

g given a fine not to exceed $50 and jail term not exceeding thirty days.

On June 14th, 1943, Mr. Justice Jackson, along with the other 5 Justices of the previous Gobitis case, voted that it was unconstitutional for any board of education, or anyone in the United States, to impose their ideas on anyone in that fashion. The Court voted 6-3 in favor of the Barnettes and the Jehovah's Witnesses. Justices Frankfurter delivered the opinion of the dissenting party. He felt sympathy for the minority in this case, but couldn't find any constitutional right in their favor. According to him, he warned that "minorities can disrupt civil society ... and there is NOTHING in the Constitution which subordinates the general civil authority of the state to sectarian scruples." 6

"I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America,

5. "Supreme Court of the United States," Microsoftc Encartac Encyclopedia 99. c 1993-1998

They feel that the flag stands for, or is a symbol, which directly contradicts their view of this message from God. For this reason they refuse to salute the flag.

this happened would be to make sure there is strong nationalism, which can be heightened be pledging to the national flag, which goes like this:

This, however, fueled a few sparks, especially among some relatively religious sect of people. Namely, the sect was the Jehovah's Witnesses, which is a division between them and Catholicism. The Witnesses believe in God, as do regular Catholic Christians do, but they strongly believe that the "obligation imposed be law of God is superior to that of laws enacted by temporal government." 4 Basically, they feel that laws made by mere mortals can't be obeyed when a law of God contradicts it. Their definition of laws from God comes from a very literal and precise interpretation of Exodus, Chapter 20, verses 4 a

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 2175
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)