At the BSA’s first annual meeting in 1911, a committee was charged with “Americanizing” Lord Baden-Powell’s Scout Law. B-P’s Scout Law had nine points, covering the virtues of trustworthiness, loyalty, helpfulness, friendliness, courtesy, kindness, obedience, cheerfulness, and thriftiness. The BSA committee changed the wording to each point but retained their meaning. At the urging of James E. West, three points were added: brave, clean, and reverent. West was particularly adamant about adding “reverent” because, he said years later, “I felt then, as I feel now, that there is nothing more essential in the education of the youth of America
