The Liberty Bell was recast and completed in Philadelphia in 1753.
Pennsylvania’s colonial assembly ordered a bell for the State House, the building now associated with Independence Hall. The bell arrived from London in August 1752, but its first test produced an unsatisfactory sound and the bell was cracked or otherwise damaged during the early handling.
Philadelphia founders John Pass and John Stow recast the bell twice. The work was completed in June 1753, and the bell was hung in the State House steeple. Its inscription quotes Leviticus 25:10: “Proclaim LIBERTY Throughout all the Land unto all the Inhabitants Thereof.”
The bell’s connection with American independence grew later. It was not the official signal that announced the Declaration’s adoption, and the familiar story that it was rung immediately on July 4, 1776 is not supported by contemporary evidence. Its crack, which became visible in the nineteenth century, helped turn it into a lasting national symbol.