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The Liberty Bell
(Harpers Ferry Center Commissioned Art Collection, National Park Service)
The Liberty Bell Market Street between 5th and 6th Streets.
"Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof - Lev. XXV, v. x. By order of the Assembly of the Province of Pennsylvania [sic] for the State House in Philada."
Liberty Bell Inscription The Bell's Message The Liberty Bell's inscription conveys a message of liberty which goes beyond the words themselves. Since the bell was made, the words of the inscription have meant different things to different people.
When William Penn created Pennsylvania's government he allowed citizens to take part in making laws and gave them the right to choose the religion they wanted. The colonists were proud of the freedom that Penn gave them. In 1751, the Speaker of the Pennsylvania Assembly ordered a new bell for the State House. He asked that a Bible verse to be placed on the bell - "Proclaim LIBERTY throughout all the Land unto all the inhabitants thereof" (Leviticus 25:10). As the official bell of the Pennsylvania State House (today called Independence Hall) it rang many times for public announcements, but we remember times like July 8, 1776 when it rang to announce the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence.
The old State House bell was first called the "Liberty Bell" by a group trying to outlaw slavery. These abolitionists remembered the words on the bell and, in the 1830s, adopted it as a symbol of their cause.
Beginning in the late 1800s, the Liberty Bell travelled around the country to expositions and fairs to help heal the divisions of the Civil War. It reminded Americans of their earlier days when they fought and worked together for independence.
In 1915, the bell made its last trip and came home to Philadelphia, where it now silently reminds us of the power of liberty. For more than 200 years people from around the world have felt the bell's message. No one can see liberty, but people have used the Liberty Bell to represent this important idea.
Bell Facts A bell for the Pennsylvania State House was cast in London, England, however, it cracked soon after it arrived in Philadelphia. Local craftsmen John Pass and John Stow cast a new bell in 1753, using metal from the English bell. Their names appear on the front of the bell, along with the city and the date.
By 1846 a thin crack began to affect the sound of the bell. The bell was repaired in 1846 and rang for a George Washington birthday celebration, but the bell cracked again and has not been rung since. No one knows why the bell cracked either time.
The bell weighs about 2000 pounds. It is made of 70% copper, 25% tin, and small amounts of lead, zinc, arsenic, gold, and silver. It hangs from what is believed to be its original yoke, made from American elm, also known as slippery elm.
The Liberty Bell
The famous old bell was on exhibition, carefully guarded, at the Pennsylvania State Building. It was brought to St. Louis on the petition of 75,000 school children, who wished to enjoy the inspiration of its presence. Among the bells of the world, no one has been associated with events as great import to humanity as the Liberty Bell. The original bell was cast by Thomas Lester, Whitechapel. London, in 1752. It cracked shortly after it was hung and was recast by Pass & Stow, Philadelphia, April 17, 1753. On July 8, 1776, it proclaimed the Declaration of Independence to the world, and on July 8, 1835, rang for the last time. While slowly tolling, during the funeral solemnities over the remains of Chief Justice John Marshall, it parted through its great side and was silent, forever. The Liberty Bell had been removed from it's building on four previous occasions -- during the Revolution, September, 1777, to keep it from the British; and to several expositions at New Orleans, January 23, 1885; Chicago, April 25, 1893 and Atlanta, October 24, 1895.
The Bell is 12 feet in circumference around the lip and 7 feet 6 inches around the crown; it is 3 feet following the line of the bell from the lip to the crown, and 2 feet 3 inches over the crown. It is 3 inches thick in the thickest part near the lip, and 1.25 inches thick in the thinnest part toward the crown. The length of the clapper is 3 feet 2 inches, and the weight of the whole is 2,080 pounds.
It is lettered in a line encircling the crown with the sentence: -- "Proclaim LIBERTY Throughout ALL the LAND Unto All the Inhabitants Thereof. LV. XXV, V, X."
The Bell rested on a movable platform. When it rang for the Declaration, it hung in a heavy wooden frame; the frame was ordered by the Assembly when the Bell arrived in 1753; it was taken down from the steeple with the Bell on July 16, 1781 and placed in the tower below where it still remains.
During the Exposition hours the Bell was visited at will, no card of admission was required. The sacred relic was guarded by stalwart Philadelphia policemen and was protected by a railing from vandal touch. "Liberty Bell Day" was one of the great events of June, the children turning out in mass to welcome Liberty's messenger. An excort of cavalry accompanied the Bell to its temporary quarters.
Gen. John J. Pershing at the Liberty Bell, September 12, 1919.
(Independence National Historical Park) Gen. John J. Pershing, leader of the American Expeditionary Forces in Europe during World War I, made a celebratory visit to the Liberty Bell in September 1919, 10 months after the war ended.
Pennsylvania State Building
Pennsylvania was allotted a commanding site nearly central in the Plateau of States, on which was standing a large and handsome building, worthy of the great commonwealth it represented at the Exposition. The structure was two stories in height, of classic architecture, somewhat suggesting the State Capitol. In the center was a great square-domed rotunda, with stairways of liberal proportions and dignified lines leading to the upper rooms. Native woods and marbles were effectively used in the interior decorations and furnishings. Historic exhibits, chiefly in the form of portraits of famous sons of Pennsylvania, reminded the visitor of the important part the State had played in the making of the nation. Among the portraits was an authentic one of the great Penn himself, which served to correct the impression most people had of his appearance. But the shrine of patriotic Americans was the Liberty Bell, standing in the center of the great rotunda and protected by a guard of honor. Elaborate ceremonies accompanied its arrival at the Exposition grounds, after a tour through many cities where it silently taught its lesson to thousands of persons who visited it. The Pennsylvania Building, which had the honor of housing this relic and at the same time dispensing hospitality to friend and to stranger, was 226 by 105 feed, and was erected at a cost of about $75,000.
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The U. S. Constitution
