The Liberty Bell was cast in 1752.
The Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly commissioned the bell from the London firm Lester and Pack, later known as the Whitechapel Bell Foundry. It was intended for the Pennsylvania State House, the building now called Independence Hall. The bell bears an inscription from the Bible: “Proclaim LIBERTY Throughout all the Land unto all the Inhabitants Thereof.”
The bell cracked soon after arriving in Philadelphia and was recast twice by local founders John Pass and John Stow. Their names appear on the bell. Its large, famous crack developed much later, probably during the first half of the nineteenth century; the popular story that it cracked while ringing after Chief Justice John Marshall’s death is not firmly documented.
The Liberty Bell became a widely recognized symbol of American independence and liberty, especially during the nineteenth century. It was associated with the 1776 events even though no contemporary evidence proves that it rang when the Declaration was adopted.