Liberty
Bell
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Made in 1753
#NC-17330-PA - Notecards
Also available in Assortment Pack #AST-1776
The original bell for the State House (now Independence Hall)
steeple was cast in London in 1752, but it cracked after being
hung and tested on March 10, 1753. The Philadelphia Foundry of
Pass and Stow recast the bell, adding copper to strengthen it.
The resulting tone, however, pleased no one, and the foundry broke
up the bell and recast it yet again.
The
bell is most famous for summoning citizens for the first reading
of the Declaration of Independence. During the Revolutionary War,
the bell was hidden in Allentown, Pennsylvania because of fears
that it would be melted down and used to make a cannon by British
Invaders. After its return to Independence Hall in 1778, the bell
was rung on each Independence Day and state occasion until a widening
crack rendered it unringable in 1846 on Washington’s birthday.
The
bell bears the inscription: “Proclaim Liberty Throughout All the
Land unto All the Inhabitants Thereof. Leviticus xxv:x.”
Drawing
© 2004 Bill Harrah
.
. . AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE. . . (Click on an image
to see the actual notecard size)