Philadelphia’s Liberty Bell was cast in 1752, decades before the Declaration of Independence.
The bell was commissioned by the Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly for the Pennsylvania State House, now Independence Hall. The Whitechapel Bell Foundry in London cast it in 1752, but it cracked during an early test in Philadelphia. Local founders John Pass and John Stow recast it, using much of the original metal, and the replacement was completed that same year.
The bell’s inscription comes from Leviticus 25:10: “Proclaim Liberty Throughout All the Land Unto All the Inhabitants Thereof.” It became strongly associated with American independence in the nineteenth century, although historians debate whether it actually rang on July 4, 1776.
The Liberty Bell is often mistakenly described as a bell cast in 1776. Its earlier date shows that it began as a colonial civic object and only later became a national symbol. Its location in Philadelphia connects it to the founding sites highlighted by America250.