„Yes there's a lady that stands in a harbor for what we believe. And there's a bell that still echoes the price that it cost to be free.” (Aaron Tippen)

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.

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.

 According to tradition, its most famous ringing occurred on July 8, 1776, to summon citizens of Philadelphia for the reading of the Declaration of Independence. Historians today consider this highly doubtful, as the steeple in which the bell was hung had deteriorated significantly by that time. The bell had also been rung to announce the opening of the First Continental Congress in 1774 and after the Battle of Lexington and Concord in 1775.

The Liberty Bell was known as the "Independence Bell" or the "Old Yankee's Bell" until 1837, when it was adopted by the American Anti-Slavery Society as a symbol of the abolitionist movement.

 It was cast in England in 1752 for the Pennsylvania Statehouse (now named Independence Hall) in Philadelphia. It was recast in Philadelphia in 1753. It has a composition of 70% copper, 25% tin, small amounts of lead, zinc, arsenic, gold and silver It is inscribed with the words, “Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof” (Lev. 25:10). The bell was rung on July 8, 1776, for the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence. Hidden in Allentown during the British occupation of Philadelphia, it was re-placed in Independence Hall in 1778. The bell cracked on July 8, 1835, while tolling the death of Chief Justice John Marshall. The "crack" is approximately 1/2 inch wide and 24.5 inches long. The Bell actually suffered a series of hairline cracks. The area around the crack was expanded in hopes of extending the useful life of the Bell. When the Liberty Bell first cracked, it was given to Pass & Stow to recast. A replacement bell was ordered from Whitechapel Foundry in England. The Pass & Stow bell is the Liberty Bell.

The bell strikes the E-flat note.

Bell Stats

• circumference around the lip: 12 ft.
• circumference around the crown: 7 ft. 6 in.
• lip to crown: 3 ft.
• height over the crown: 2 ft. 3 in.
• thickness at lip: 3 in.
• thickness at crown: 1-1/4 in.
• weight (originally): 2080 lbs.
• length of clapper: 3 ft. 2 in.
• weight of clapper: 44-1/2 lbs.
• weight of yoke: 200 lbs.
• Length of visible hairline fracture: approx. 2' 4" (this and next measurement made by Park curator Bob Giannini in 1993)
• Length of drilled crack: approx. 2' 1/2"
• yoke wood: American Elm (a.k.a. slippery elm)