Every year millions of people come to Philadelphia to see the “Liberty Bell.”  This large bell was commissioned in 1751 by the Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly to hang in the new State House in Philadelphia. At the time it was commissioned, there was no thought about Independence.  Philadelphia was the third most important city in the British Empire and Pennsylvania legislature was very proudly British.  The bell certainly wasn’t called the “Liberty Bell” in 1751, in fact it almost ended up in the scrap heap.

The bell was originally was cast in London by the Whitechapel Bell Foundry and purchased by the Pennsylvania Assembly for about £100.  It took over a year to be delivered and it arrived, the Assembly was quite disappointed with their purchase.  They tested it in August 1752 and on the first set of peals, It was cracked.  Shipping it back to London was too expensive so they had it recast in Philadelphia by John Pass John Stow.  In its next test, the bell was solid but its sound was displeasing so the Assembly ordered it recast as second time.  Finally on June 1753, it was hung in the State House steeple. 

Much like a church bell, the purpose of this bell was to summon the Assembly and to announce momentous activities.  It was NOT RUNG on July 4, 1776 (or even July 2 when the vote occurred) to the adoption of the Declaration of Independence – one does not announce treason; but it it was rung four days later on July 8 to celebrate the first public reading of the document. In 1777, when British forces entered Philadelphia, it was hidden in an Allentown church to prevent the British from scavenging the bronze it was made of to make new cannon.  Once returned to the steeple in Philadelphia, it rang frequently to mark serious occasions like the inauguration of presidents Washington and Adams.  It was important but, it was just a bell and it served the people of Philadelphia tirelessly until it cracked while tolling for the funeral of Chief Justice John Marshall in 1835. It did not get its name, however until later.

The bell didn’t attract much positive attention and reverence until the 19th century. In 1824, the Marquis de Lafayette (Marie Joseph Paul Yyves Roch Gilbert de Motier, Marquis de Lafayette) returned to the United States as the “nation’s guest” by invitation of his longtime friend President James Monroe.  For nearly two months, Philadelphians had planned a grand reception, for Lafayette.  The city commissioned architect William Strickland to refurbish the room in the old State House where independence had been declared and a grand steeple was added to the top of the building.   While the State House Bell still hung in the tower, it was now in the middle and people were encouraged to climb the tower to the cupula at its apex to survey to the countryside from the now highest structure in Pennsylvania.  As they ascended the stairs, many had an opportunity to now see the bell up close and read its inscription.

The Liberty Bell bears the inscription: “Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof.” This verse from the King James Bible refers to the instructions of the Israelites to return property and free slaves every 50 years. This inscription begam to inspire abolitionists in the 19th century who wished to abolish slavery in the United States.  The name “Liberty Bell” was first applied in 1839 in an abolitionist pamphlet. An article entitled “The Liberty Bell” in the Anti-Slavery Record (published by the New York Anti-Slavery Society) complained that Philadelphians were not living up to the “Proclaim Liberty” part of the bell’s inscription and that they should become more vigorous abolitionists. It was time that the country lived up to Leviticus’ instructions to proclaim liberty to all the inhabitants of the land.  The name stuck and the Liberty Bell’s iconic status grew throughout the rest of the 19th century.

Oh, and it also happens to be cracked from nearly a century of faithful service to the city…

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