The Sound of Liberty: September 1, 1752

Ring, ring the mighty Bell,
In the storm, in the storm!
Brothers! It shall herald well
Fair Freedom's form.
- "The Liberty Bell" by R.R.R. Moore

Per Scriptum E. Wesley - Mackinac Center Intern

The legend of the Liberty Bell's toll in Philadelphia on July 8, 1776 for the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence has inspired many Americans for generations. Although historians now believe that this tale is not historical fact, the Liberty Bell has been a symbol of freedom throughout American history, and many have claimed the symbol for their quest for liberty. To this day, the Liberty Bell is still tapped by descendants of signers of the Declaration at the Let Freedom Ring Ceremony on Independence Day.

The Bell's original purpose was to commemorate the fiftieth-year anniversary of William Penn's 1701 Charter of Privileges (Pennsylvania's first Constitution). In London on November 1, 1751, Robert Charles (Colonial Agent of the Province of Pennsylvania) received a letter from Isaac Norris, Thomas Leech, and Edward Warner petitioning that the Pennsylvania Assembly be granted a bell for the State House steeple (Independence Hall). The Whitechapel Bell Foundry provided the Bell with the famous Leviticus passage inscribed ("Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof," Leviticus 25:10). Leviticus goes on to say, "And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year." This was certainly a fiftieth-year jubilee! The Bell arrived on September 1, 1752, but wasn't hung until March 10, 1753. On March 10th, Norris wrote, "I had the mortification to hear that it was cracked by a stroke of the clapper without any other viollence [sic] as it was hung up to try the sound." The crack was probably caused by ill casting, or its brittleness. John Pass and John Stow, two foundry workers in Philadelphia, were hired to fix the Bell. They melted it down and recast it, adding an ounce and a half of copper for every pound. However, the Philadelphia inhabitants disliked the new tone, and Pass and Stow were recommissioned. They recast and rehung the now 2080 lbs. Bell. Norris was still displeased, and requested that Whitechapel cast another bell. The new bell was hung on the roof to sound the hours of the clock, and the Liberty Bell remained in the steeple. Despite its displeasing tone, the Liberty Bell rang for Benjamin Franklin's departure for England to petition against Colonial grievances. It also was sounded for the King George III's ascension to the throne in 1761, and tolled for the Philadelphia town meetings discussing the Sugar Act of 1764 and the Stamp Act of 1765. In 1847, The Saturday Currier published George Lippard's fictional story of an old bellman waiting for Congress to decide independence. The bellman's grandson, while eavesdropping on Congress, finally called out "Ring, Grandfather! Ring!" This story so inspired Americans, that forever after the Liberty Bell has been associated with the Declaration of Independence. However, because the steeple was in such bad condition during 1776, historians doubt this story ever happened. The Bell did ring for the last time in 1846 to commemorate George Washington's birthday. This was where the crack widened to an irreparable condition.

The Liberty Bell was first recognized as a symbol of liberty on a wide scale when the Abolitionists took it as their mascot. It first appeared in this context in an 1837 edition of Liberty published by the New York Anti-Slavery Society. It was the Abolitionists who gave it the name "Liberty Bell," in reference to its inscription (before, it was known as the "State House bell"). The Abolitionists were convicted by Leviticus, "And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a jubile unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family" (Leviticus 25:10). The Abolitionists believed it was high time "every man" was returned "unto his family." In The Liberator, William Lloyd Garrison's anti-slavery publication gives us the first documented use of the term "Liberty Bell" for the poem "The Liberty Bell." The Liberty Bell has been the sound of Liberty ever since. It toured the US after the Civil War to heal the nation, and continued many different tours in future years giving Americans a sense of liberty that is accessible to the common man. As an example, please click here for a very special photo essay of the 1915 Liberty Bell tour from Philadelphia to San Francosco.


Image of Independence Hall by Dan Smith from Wikipedia