Who presented Philadelphia with the Bicentennial Bell during the United States Bicentennial?

Queen Elizabeth II presented Philadelphia with the Bicentennial Bell during the United States Bicentennial.

She gave the bell on July 6, 1976, during a state visit to the United States with her husband, Prince Philip. The gift was made on behalf of the British people and was intended to commemorate the historic relationship between Britain and the country that had declared independence two centuries earlier.

The Bicentennial Bell is a replica of Philadelphia’s Liberty Bell. It was cast at the Whitechapel Bell Foundry, the same London foundry associated with the original Liberty Bell. Its inscription identifies the gift as coming from the people of Britain and includes the phrase “Let Freedom Ring.”

The presentation was symbolically important because Philadelphia was central to the American founding. The city hosted the Continental Congress and was where the Declaration of Independence was adopted. The Bicentennial Bell therefore linked a modern anniversary ceremony with the political and civic history of the original independence movement.