The Boy Scouts of America (BSA) is an organization designed for boys between the ages of 7 and 17 and for both young men and women between the ages of 14 and 21, based in the United States of America, with some presence in other countries. As of the end of 2004, the program was serving 3,145,331 youth with 1,173,064 leaders in 126,232 units. The BSA has three program divisions, administered at the national level by committees of professionals and volunteers:

Cub Scouts provides service to boys from first-grade through fifth-grade, or 7–10 years old and their families. The Cub Scout program uses a fun and challenging system to achieve the aims of character development, citizenship training, and personal fitness. The program is divided into age based programs of Tiger Cubs, Wolf Cubs, Bear Cubs and Webelos Scouts.

Boy Scouts are the flagship program of the BSA for boys 10–17. The program uses a system of outdoor activities to achieve the aims of Scouting. Varsity Scouts are a modified Boy Scout program available to boys from 14–17 that adds a system of high adventure and sporting activities that should appeal to the older boy. The Order of the Arrow (OA) is the Boy Scout national honor society for experienced campers, based on Native American traditions, and dedicated to the ideal of cheerful service.

Venturing is the program for young men and women ages 14–21. Its purpose is to provide positive experiences to help youth mature and to prepare them to become responsible adults. It is based on a unique and dynamic relationship between youth, adult leaders, and organizations in their communities. Sea Scouts are the nautical oriented part of this division.

The BSA is the largest youth organization in the United States; over one hundred million Americans have been members. Its educational programs for boys and young adults aim to build character, participatory citizenship, and personal fitness. This purpose is carried on primarily through outdoor activities such as camping and hiking. There is an emphasis on personal development through community service, leadership, and individual challenge. These principles are reflected in the Scout Oath, Law, Motto and Slogan.

The Scout Motto
Be Prepared.
The Scout Slogan
Do a Good Turn Daily.
The Scout Oath
On my honor I will do my best to do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law; to help other people at all times; to keep myself physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight.
The Scout Law
A Scout is trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent.
The Outdoor Code
As an American, I will do my best to be clean in my outdoor manners, be careful with fire, be considerate in the outdoors, and be conservation-minded.
The Scout Sign
The upper arm is held horizontally out to the right side, and the forearm is held vertically. The palm of the hand faces forward, with the tips of the little finger and thumb joined.
The Scout Salute
The hand is held in the same configuration as is used for the Scout Sign, with the tip of the index finger (pointer) touching the forehead or hat brim. This is a modification of the salute used by military organizations around the world.
The Scout Handshake
This is the traditional handshake done with the left hand instead of the right. Several conflicting reasons have been given for this modification:
The left hand is closer to one's heart.
A soldier must keep his right hand free to grab his weapon.
In warfare using simple weapons (practiced in the medieval period, as well as by the Ashanti people who Baden-Powell met in West Africa), a warrior carries a shield in his left hand. To shake with the left hand, he must drop his shield, indicating good faith.
The Southern African tribes also held a belief that shaking with the right hand did not denote trust, as it prevented the person from using their strong hand in attack, and were reported to refuse Baden-Powell's first attempt at shaking hands with the right hand.
The BSA Scout Oath and Law have remained unchanged since they were first developed in 1910.

History
The BSA was inspired by and modeled on the Boy Scouts, established by Robert Baden-Powell in Britain in 1907. It also borrowed ideas from Sir Ernest Thompson Seton, the YMCA, and a number of other "Scouting" organizations for boys that had sprung up in the decade of the 1900s in the United States and abroad.

The BSA was established in 1910 by William D. Boyce. The story of how Boyce came to be interested in Scouting has appeared in various forms. All versions agree on the following: Boyce, a publisher from Chicago, was lost in London's famous fog when he was met by a boy who showed him the way to his destination; the boy then refused an offer of payment for his services. Some assert that the boy vanished into the fog after refusing Boyce's money and never saw him again, but others declare that the two arranged another meeting, so that the boy could show Boyce to the headquarters. Still others hold that the boy was uniformed at the time. The truth of the matter is shrouded in years of Scouting legend and may never be known for sure.

Some versions claim that Boyce actually knew about Scouting before this event, that the place he was seeking in the fog was actually Scouting headquarters, and that he had in fact come to London to learn more about the organization. (Baden-Powell was associated with the British YMCA; news of the Boy Scouts had reached the U.S. through this organization.)

Boyce returned to the United States and, with Edward S. Stewart and Stanley D. Willis, incorporated the Boy Scouts of America on February 8. The first troop was Troop 1, based at a YMCA. Edgar Robinson, an important administrator of the YMCA in Chicago, agreed to help Boyce organize the Boy Scouts as a national organization.

In 1910, Seton, Beard, Baden-Powell, Boyce, Robinson and others called a national meeting of people involved in youth work. The first national officers of the BSA were selected. It was agreed that the President of the United States (then William Howard Taft) was to be the Honorary President of the BSA, a tradition that is still followed today.