THERE IS A SYMBOL OF FREEDOM RESIDING IN PHILADELPHIA THAT COULD TELL A LOT OF INTERESTING STORIES IF IT COULD SPEAK. IT IS THE LIBERTY BELL. IT’S INSCRIPTION READS
Proclaim LIBERTY Throughout all the Land unto all the inhabitants Thereof”
SOMETIMES IT FEELS LIKE WE ARE NOT DOING THIS SO WELL BUT IT IS A WORTHY GOAL!
HERE ARE A FEW FUN FACTS ABOUT THIS SYMBOL OF FREEDOM
- IT CRACKED ON IT’S FIRST RING
(Arriving from England in 1752 and weighing over 2000 pounds, it was purchased to replace a bell, brought by William Penn, that hung behind the state house in Philadelphia.)
- LOCAL CRAFTSMEN, JOHN PASS AND JOHN STOW, RECAST THE BELL BUT IT SOUNDED AWFUL!
(A public celebration with free food was scheduled to hear the bell ring but the crowd mocked the sound and it got recast again)
- THE INSCRIPTION ON THE BELL , “Proclaim LIBERTY Throughout all the Land unto all the inhabitants Thereof” is from Leviticus 25:10
( Abolitionists adopted the bell with its inscription in the 1830s and renamed it THE LIBERTY BELL)
- NO ONE KNOWS HOW THE CRACK IN THE RECAST LIBERTY BELL HAPPENED
(the crack appeared in 1846 but there are so many different stories ….which one is true?)
- NO ONE ALIVE HAS EVER HEARD THE LIBERTY BELL RING
( It has not been rung since a birthday celebration for George Washington in February of 1846)
- OVER A MILLION PEOPLE VISIT THE LIBERTY BELL EVERY YEAR
(My parents took me to see it when I was young. Admission is free and you can see it every day except Christmas)
- IT WAS ONCE INVOLVED IN AN APRIL FOOLS DAY JOKE
(As an April Fool’s Day joke in 1996, Taco Bell ran a full-page ad in a national newspaper and said they had bought the Liberty BelL)
FREEDOM IS NO JOKE. IT IS WORTH FIGHTING FOR….. OUR OWN FREEDOM AND THAT OF OUR NEIGHBOR. LET FREEDOM RING!
The Liberty Bell in historic Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (PA)
