50+ Unknown Liberty Bell Facts For Kids

What Is Liberty Bell?

Liberty Bell is hung in the Liberty Bell centre in Philadelphia where it was rung to announce the independence of the United States from Great Britain.
This bell, made up of copper and tin, is 3 feet high and 12 feet around the bottom and weighs about 943 kilograms.
A verse from the bible is inscribed on the bell: “Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof.”This line means everyone everywhere should have liberty and freedom.
It cracked the first time it was rung in Philadelphia and then it was built again by two workers named John Pass and John Stow.
The Liberty Bell is considered an essential and famous symbol of American independence from Great Britain. The bell had been ordered from the London firm of Lester and Pack.

Historical Liberty Bell Facts For Kids

The liberty bell was ordered from London to ring at the Pennsylvania state house in Philadelphia but the first time it was rung, a terrible noise occurred and a wide crack appeared on its side.
After the bell cracked, two workers named John Pass and John Stow offered to fix it. They used sledgehammers to break the bell into pieces and used the material from the same old bell to mold and build a new one.
After the bell was completed in 1753, it was rung again and made the same harsh and terrible noise. However, the workers were determined to make the bell and they remade the bell but this time, they added some more tin.
The bell now produced didn’t make the previous horrific sound but didn’t have a beautiful tone either. On July 8 1776, Congress read the newly signed declaration of independence.
After the reading of the declaration, the bell was rung once again and since the bell was inscribed with the saying of the Bible, the bell became a significant sign of patriotism amongst the people.
The bell was kept hidden under the floor of a church during the Revolutionary War and was retrieved after the British left Philadelphia. The British might have melted the bell to make cannonballs. The bell was rung again when the peace treaty was signed in 1783.
The bell was then rung only on special occasions. When John Marshall, the chief justice of the Supreme Court, died in 1835, the bell was rung but unfortunately got cracked again.
In 1846, a newspaper writer suggested ringing the old cracked bell on George Washington’s birthday and suddenly the old bell was beloved again. Since then, it came to be known as the Liberty Bell.
The Liberty Bell has now been kept in a glass case across the street and is rung every 4th of July and also on special occasions. In203, the bell was moved to a new building called liberty bell center near the independence hall.

Fascinating Liberty Bell Facts For Kids

During the 50-year anniversary of William Penn’s 1701 Charter of Privileges in 1751, the Pennsylvania Assembly had the Liberty Bell made, which then served as Pennsylvania’s original Constitution.
It might be amusing for you to know that no one knows when the bell was actually cracked for the first time. It is a subject of huge debate among many historians and researchers.
However, there is one theory that says the bell was cracked for the first time in 1752.
The Liberty Bell cracked up again in February 1846, when it was rung on President’s Day, celebrating George Washington’s birthday, and then it was stopped from ringing because of the major crack that appeared on its side.
In spite of the cracks that appeared on its surface, the bell was rung often during its functional lifetime. It was rung during the signing of the constitution and on the deaths of Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, and Thomas Jefferson.
The liberty bell was called the State House bell before but it got its name after the independence as the symbol of the anti-slavery movement in the 1830s.
We know that bells were ringing on July 8 1776 to mark the celebration of the public announcement of the declaration of independence..
In 1777, the bell was kept under arm guard and was hidden under the floor of a church lest it might get destroyed by the British and get turned into a cannonball. It was again retrieved after the British left in the following year.
The Liberty Bell last hit the road in 1915 even though the bell was taken on a tour in the United States several times.

Less Known Liberty Bell Stories For Kids

The reason why the bell suddenly gained huge popularity amongst the common people was due to a story named ‘fourth of July 1776’ by a writer named George Lippard which was published in Saturday Review magazine.
The short story was about an old man on July 4, 1776, who was sitting sadly by the bell. He was afraid that Congress would not be able to declare independence and that the people of the country would never achieve freedom. Suddenly, a young boy comes to tell the old man to ring the bell.
The story gained a lot of popularity and people started to find a connection between the declaration of independence and the Liberty bell. It then became a symbol of independence, hope, and patriotism.