The Assembly of Pennsylvania had in its possession a bell for official purposes from the date of the organization of the Province. The first Province bell is believed to have been brought to Pennsylvania by William Penn. Its original use was to call its members together morning and afternoon during its session, and to announce the hour of the opening of the Courts of Justice to the people, and other public functions. The most stately use of the Province bell was to announce the proclamation of the accession of a member of the royal family (Great Britain) to the throne, and the proclamation of treaties of peace and declarations of war.

The bell, which followed this customary use, and announced the Proclamation of the Declaration of Independence, was ordered for the new State House of Pennsylvania, then nearing completion, by the Superintendents of the building, Isaac Norris, Thomas Leech and Edward Warner, from the Colonial Agent of the Province in London, Mr. Robert Charles, on November 1, 1751.

This new Province bell, later known as the Liberty Bell, was cast by Thomas Lister, of Whitechapel, London, and arrived at Philadelphia in the latter part of August, 1752, and was hung up on trusses in the state House yard (now Independence Square) to try out its sound, before raising it to the tower. Early in September "it was cracked by a stroke of the clapper during a test without any other violence" and was re-cast by Pass & Stow, "two ingenious workmen" of Philadelphia.

In the re-casting, the English model was broken up and the same metal was used with the addition of an ounce and one-half of American copper to the pound of the old bell metal to make the bell less brittle. The same form and lettering were preserved with the substitution of the names of the founders, the place and year of re-casting.

The Liberty Bell was re-cast in Philadelphia by Pass & Stow twice, which fact is very little known, the third casting of the original metal being satisfactory, and the relic that exists today. In was again hung, this time permanently, in the steeple of the State House (Independence Hall) where it remained in use until the steeple was taken down, July 16, 1781, when the bell was lowered into the brick tower, where it remained until 1846. At that time it was first placed on public exhibition as a relic in the Declaration Chamber in Independence Hall. It remained there until 1876, when it was placed on its old walnut frame in the tower hallway, remaining there until 1877, when it was hung from the ceiling of the clerestory of the tower by a chain of thirteen links. It was returned again to the Declaration Chamber and placed in a glass case the following year, and in 1896 was taken back to the tower hall. In 1915 the case was removed so that the public might have the opportunity to reverently touch the bell.

When the Liberty Bell rang to proclaim the Declaration of Independence, it hung in a black walnut frame. This supporting frame was ordered when the bell first arrived from England, and was taken down from the steeple with the bell in 1781 and placed in the tower where it is still preserved.

The official ringers of the bell were Edward Kelly, 1753-5; David Edward, 1755-8; Andrew McNair, 1759-76; who was the bell ringer on the occasion of the Proclamation of Independence, and until September 15, 1776, when Andrew McNair's services terminated. No later records have been found naming the official ringers of the bell other than Thomas Bowling, 1827-36.

The Declaration of Independence was first read in public at Philadelphia on July 8, 1776, after which the Liberty Bell was tolled. From this date on the bell continued to record the events of the Revolution and thereafter, uninterruptedly, until 1835 at which time its mission was ended. It was then that that the Liberty Bell cracked, not on July 4, 1776 as is often believed. John Marshall, then Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court, died on July 6, 1835. On July 8, exactly fifty nine years to the day of the anniversary of the Proclamation of the Declaration of Independence to the people, his remains were borne from Philadelphia to his native state, Virginia, for burial. During the funeral the Liberty Bell, while softly tolling, cracked through its side.

The reason the Liberty Bell cracked is purely metallurgical. It is believed the the original crack was due to "cooling strains", strains occurring at the time of casting that finally give out. These strains begin in minute flaws before they become apparent to the eye by widening, or to the ear by a discordant tone in ringing. Each time the clapper struck the bell, the molecules contiguous to the flaw were thrown into violent vibration and what is known to metallurgists as a "breaking down in detail" occurred. To avoid as much as possible the further expansion of the crack, a mechanical device called a "spider" has been installed inside the bell equalizing the weight-strain and holding the relic at all times in a rigid position.

The edges of the crack are serrated, revealing the marks of a drill. In 1846 it was suggested that the bell should be rung to celebrate the George Washington's birth, and the crack was drilled out to separate the parted sides with the hope that the sound would be clearer. This experiment proved unsuccessful.


FIRST PUBLIC READING OF
THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE
At High Noon, July 8, 1776 Oil by C. O. De Land
"There was a large assembly of people in the yard who had been summoned by the tolling of the Liberty Bell as there had been many times before on the occasion of some public event. Passing through the assembled crowd the procession of officials, who had charge of proclaiming this State paper to the people, reached the platform, at which time the Liberty Bell ceased ringing. Colonel John Nixon, to whom the High Sheriff of Philadelphia had delegated the reading, stood up in the silence. He was a strong-voiced and open featured man. He began reading with the words 'In Congress, July 4, 1776, a Declaration of the Representatives of the United States of America' and read through the important document, and it was accepted with general applause and heartfelt satisfaction."

At the conclusion of the reading the bell ringer tolled the Liberty Bell once more. One hostile observer noted: "very few respectable people" were present and it certainly should not be supposed that enthusiasm was universal. John Adams reported that there was a great crowd of people, most of them plain ordinary people, and they left no doubt of their approbation. Adams described the reading as having occurred on "that awful stage", perhaps referring to its scientific setting. There was great popular exultation. Cheers rose to the sky, the bells rang all day and almost all night, even the chimers of the eminently respectable and conservative Christ Church joining in, and despite the shortage of gun powder there were volleys from the militia. Similar celebration quickly spread. General Washington, in New York at the time, had several brigades of the army drawn up at 6 p.m. on July 9 to hear it read. That night the equestrian statue of King George III was torn down. In distant Boston, the Declaration was read on July 18 from the balcony of the State House. Afterwards the King's arms were taken down and burned, as were other vestiges of royal authority around the city. Remote Georgia, usually reached by sail then, did not receive the news until mid-August. The Declaration was read at the Liberty Pole in Savannah.



The Liberty Bell: The Ring Of Freedom
Advertisement:
For more than 200 years, the Liberty Bell has been one of the most visible symbols of American freedom. Made in England, the bell was brought to Philadelphia in 1753 and hung in the new Pennsylvania State House, which is now known as Independence Hall.

The bell is inscribed with the words "Proclaim Liberty throughout all the Land," which is a phrase found in the Bible (Leviticus 25:10).

On July 4, 1776, the bell was rung when the members of the Continental Congress signed the Declaration of Independence. This began an Independence Day tradition that was observed every year, except in 1777 and 1778, when the British captured Philadelphia and the bell was hidden for safe keeping.

The last time the bell was rung was in 1846, when a small crack in the bell grew so large that it could no longer be sounded. But it is still seen by millions of people each year when they visit Philadelphia's Liberty Bell Pavilion.


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)

Copper 64.95 - 73.10	Tin 24.00 - 30.16
Lead 1.30 - 5.47	Zinc 0.25 - 1.65
Iron 0.00 - 0.87	Silver 0.14 - 0.26
Antimony 0.08 - 0.18	Arsenic 0.19 - 0.42
Gold 0.02 - 0.06	Nickel 0.00 - 0.28

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