The Liberty Bell bears an inscription from Leviticus 25:10.
The quotation begins, “Proclaim LIBERTY Throughout all the Land unto all the Inhabitants Thereof.” Pennsylvania's colonial assembly ordered the bell in 1751, and the bell was cast in London before being recast in Philadelphia by John Pass and John Stow. Their names appear on the bell below the inscription.
The biblical passage refers to the ancient Israelite jubilee, a proclaimed period of liberty and restoration. In the nineteenth century, abolitionists emphasized the inscription's language and helped turn the bell into a national symbol of liberty.
The Liberty Bell was originally known as the State House Bell. It is strongly associated with independence, but the popular story that it rang on July 4, 1776, is unsupported. Historians consider it likely that it rang during the public reading of the declaration on July 8, though no contemporary record confirms that specific bell.