A 1915 crowd gathers around the Liberty Bell

To this day, the sound of large bell ringing sends goosebumps flowing throughout my body.  Whether it is a church bell or other, once it’s rung I feel pride and strength.  I really wish I could have been around during the ringing of the Liberty Bell.  What a majestic sound it must have afforded.  The The Liberty Bell is one of those images that most Americans associate with our Nations History.  But why?  Well for starters, it supposedly was rung in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on July 8th of 1776 to gather all of the citizens together for the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence.  Now that’s a great reason for it to be called the Liberty Bell, as well as being a symbol of American freedom.  It was also rung many times prior to this date to inform the people of important announcements and events.

The bell was ordered in 1751 by the Pennsylvania Assembly to commemorate the 50-year anniversary of Pennsylvania’s original Constitution written by William Penn in 1701. The P.A. Constitution speaks of the rights and freedoms valued by people all over the world including religious freedom, Native American rights, and citizens involvement in the law making process.  The Bell has many quotes and inscriptions on it that are quite interesting and fitting for what would soon come for America.  According to ushistory.org, the quotation “Proclaim Liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof,” from Leviticus 25:10, seems to be perfect for this bell’s original intent because the next line in the Bible is “proclaim liberty” as well as “And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year” completely honor the anniversary of Penn’s Constitution.

Top this day, people come to Philadelphia from all over the country bringing their problems to the bell, proclaiming their need for liberty.