The Liberty Bell was cast in 1752 for the Pennsylvania State House, now known as Independence Hall.
The Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly ordered the bell from the London firm Lester and Pack. It was intended to mark the fiftieth anniversary of William Penn's 1701 Charter of Privileges, which supported principles of religious liberty and representative government in Pennsylvania. The bell arrived in Philadelphia early in 1752.
The first casting cracked during testing, so local founders John Pass and John Stow recast it using metal from the original bell. Their names and the year 1753 appear on the bell's inscription. The bell later developed its famous large crack, probably in the early nineteenth century, and is no longer rung.
The Liberty Bell became strongly associated with American independence during the nineteenth century. Its inscription, “Proclaim LIBERTY Throughout all the Land unto all the Inhabitants thereof,” comes from Leviticus 25:10 and helped shape its later symbolism.