Learning Activity: Document Analysis Activity, West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette (1943)

The following document-based activity provides another way to teach about the West Virginia case. Provide small groups of students with the following information and have them answer the questions that appear at the end of the documents.

Facts: The West Virginia Board of Education adopted a measure requiring that all public school students salute the flag and recite the Pledge of Allegiance. Students who did not participate could be expelled; their parents could even lose custody of them. A group of Jehovah’s Witnesses challenged the law on First Amendment grounds. They argued that the forced flag salute conflicted with their religious beliefs against idol worship and graven images and, therefore, violated their free exercise of religion and freedom of speech rights under the First Amendment.



Pledge of Allegiance

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 Pledge of Allegiance first appeared in the September 8, 1892 issue of Youth’s Companion. It was officially recognized by the federal government in 1942, during World War II. In 1954, President Eisenhower convinced Congress to add the word “under God” after “one nation.”)



Issue: Whether school officials violate the First Amendment by forcing students to salute the flag and recite the Pledge of Allegiance.

Holding: By a 6-3 vote, the United States Supreme Court held that school officials do violate the First Amendment by compelling students to salute the flag and recite the Pledge of Allegiance.

Reasoning: The Supreme Court ruled that the First Amendment prohibits government officials from compelling individuals to speak or espouse (support) orthodox (approved) beliefs that are at odds with their conscience and values.

“…The very purpose of a Bill of Rights was to withdraw certain subjects from the vicissitudes (changing conditions) of political controversy, to place them beyond the reach of majorities and officials and to establish them as legal principles to be applied by the courts. One’s right to life, liberty, and property, to free speech, a free press, freedom of worship and assembly, and other fundamental rights may not be submitted to vote; they depend on the outcome of no elections….

If there is any fixed star in our constitutional constellation, it is that no official, high or petty, can prescribe what shall by orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion, or other matters of opinion or force citizens to confess by word or act their faith therein. If there are any circumstances which permit an exception, they do not occur to us….”

Justice Robert Jackson delivered the opinion of the Court, West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette (1943). 319 U.S. 624 (1943).

“An act compelling profession (declaration) of allegiance to a religion, no matter how subtly or tenuously promoted, is bad. But an act promoting good citizenship and national allegiance is within the domain of governmental authority and is therefore to be judged by the same considerations of power and constitutionality as those involved in the many claims of immunity from civil obedience because of religious scruples.”

Justice Felix Frankfurter delivered the dissenting opinion of the Court.



Document Analysis:

  1. What are the key issues between the government and the Jehovah’s Witnesses in this case? Why should this case be decided by the United States Supreme Court?
  2. What is the central legal question that the Supreme Court must answer in order to reach a decision in this case?
  3. How should the United States Supreme Court decide this case and what reasons should it use to support its decision?
  4. When was this Supreme Court decision handed down? What events were taking place during this time period?
  5. What reasons did the Supreme Court give for ruling in favor of the Jehovah’s Witnesses? Do you agree or disagree with the Court’s ruling?
  6. Must a public school student salute the American flag during a recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance? How does this Supreme Court ruling affect your rights as a student?

*Taken from: Charles C. Haynes, Sam Chaltain, John E. Ferguson, Jr., David L. Hudson, Jr., and Oliver Thomas. The First Amendment in Schools: A Guide from the First Amendment Center ( Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 2003), pp. 119-120. www.firstamendmentcenter.org

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