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Freedom Rings
by
W.Holidays
 This
bell has had quite a history.
On November 1, 1751, a bell was ordered from the Whitechapel Foundry in
England with the intention it should hang in the State House steeple,
now Independence Hall.
September 2, 1752, the bell arrived and March 10, 1753 in was hung. It
cracked while the sound was being tested. The break was believed to be
cause by flaws in the casting.
The cracked bell was melted down and recast by the local Philadelphia
foundry. An ounce and a half to a pound of copper was added in an
attempt to make the new bell less brittle. The tone of this bell was
not liked and so it was again melted down and recast.
In June of 1753 the bell was hung again but the tone was still not
approved. A new bell was ordered from England. After it arrived it was
agreed that the sound was no better than the last.
The previous bell was left in the steeple and the new bell was placed
in the cupola on the State House roof and attached to the clock to
sound the hours.
The Liberty Bell rung July 8, 1776 to announce the adoption of the
Declaration of Independence.
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