The Liberty Bell was cast in 1752 for the Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly.
The assembly commissioned the bell from the London firm Lester and Pack. It was intended for the Pennsylvania State House, now called Independence Hall, in Philadelphia. The bell carried the biblical inscription “Proclaim LIBERTY Throughout all the Land unto all the Inhabitants Thereof.”
The newly delivered bell cracked during an early test and was recast in Philadelphia by John Pass and John Stow. Their names and the year 1753 appear on the bell's inscription, which sometimes causes confusion about whether the bell was cast in 1752 or 1753.
The bell became a national symbol much later. Abolitionist societies helped popularize the name “Liberty Bell” in the 1830s. The popular story that it rang immediately after the Declaration of Independence was adopted is not supported by contemporary evidence.