The Liberty Bell
The myth of the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia’s Independence Hall is simple. The bell was rung to celebrate the passage of the Declaration of Independence, cracked either then or before or since, and has been rung to proclaim liberty throughout American history.
Supposedly the bell rang most loudly and frequently on July 4, 1776, but Congress didn’t celebrate the newly declared independence until July 8 and there is no evidence to conclude that the bell was rung on that date either. In fact, the bell was largely ignored until 1828 and gained notice then only because Philadelphia tried to sell it as scrap metal.
Inscribed with the words, “Proclaim Liberty throughout all the Land unto the Inhabitants Thereof” the casting refers to what was then English liberty, reflecting the common opinion of 1753 – the year the bell was made. Despite the inscription, the bell was not to be known as The Liberty Bell until it was so named by abolitionists in 1839.
The Liberty Bell acquired its still held renown as the result of a book entitled Legends of the American Revolution, written in 1847 by a failed playwright named George Leppard. Regarding the reverence in which it is held by Americans, very little of its story has any basis in fact.