Liberty Bell
by Susan Rissi Tregoning
Title
Liberty Bell
Artist
Susan Rissi Tregoning
Medium
Photograph - Photography
Description
The majestic Liberty Bell, the iconic symbol of American independence, stands tall against the picturesque background of Independence Hall.
In 1751, the Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly purchased a large bell to hang in Philadelphia's new State House. Cast at London's Whitechapel Bell Foundry, the 2,080-pound State House Bell was cast from copper and tin, and cost around 100 pounds.
When it finally arrived in Philadelphia in August 1752, the bell cracked during its initial test strike because the metal was too brittle. So, two local craftsmen, John Pass and John Stow, recast the bell twice, first using more copper to make it less brittle and a second time adding some silver to sweeten its tone. They also added a bit of lead, zinc, gold, and arsenic. The bell hung in the State House belfry, where it remained for almost 100 years.
The bell rang for many important occasions through the years. Becoming the symbol of America's independence when it was rung on July 8, 1776, to celebrate the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence. It was hidden in an Allentown church for safekeeping when the British invaded Philadelphia. It also rang to mark the signing of the Constitution and the deaths of Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, and Thomas Jefferson.
No one knows for sure how the bell’s next crack occurred. No documentation remains, and it continues to be debated among historians and scientists. One story says it cracked in 1824 while the Revolutionary War hero Marquis de Lafayette was visiting. Another tells it fractured later that same year while it was tolling to signal a fire. The most famous legends claim that it cracked in 1835 during the funeral of Chief Justice John Marshall, but existing newspaper accounts of the funeral do not mention it. If the bell had broken, that surely would have been a newsworthy event.
The bell continued to be known as the State House Bell until the late 1830s when an abolitionist group used it on a pamphlet to symbolize their anti-slavery movement, renaming it the “Liberty Bell” at that time.
However, the crack occurred, one thing is certain, according to official city records, the bell was already damaged by 1846 when the mayor of Philadelphia requested that the bell be rung on George Washington's birthday. Records note that attempts were made to repair a hairline fracture for the occasion.
A Philadelphia Public Ledger story chronicled the bell's final toll in its February 26, 1846 edition:
"The old Independence Bell rang its last clear note on Monday last in honor of the birthday of Washington and now hangs in the great city steeple irreparably cracked and dumb. It had been cracked before but was set in order of that day by having the edges of the fracture filed so as not to vibrate against each other. It gave out clear notes and loud, and appeared to be in excellent condition until noon, when it received a sort of compound fracture in a zig-zag direction through one of its sides which put it completely out of tune and left it a mere wreck of what it was."
Now beyond repair, it was taken out of service.
The Liberty Bell was first moved to a pavilion near Independence Hall for the Nation's Bicentennial in 1976. In 2003, it was relocated to Liberty Bell Center, part of Independence National Historical Park, which millions of visitors visit yearly.
Copyright 2023 Susan Rissi Tregoning
Uploaded
May 30th, 2023
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