An early use of the Liberty Bell as a symbolic device. From R. H. Smith, Philadelphia As It Is, 1852.
“The Bellman informed of the passage of the Declaration of Independence.” Lippard’s legend of the Liberty Bell was incorporated by Joel Tyler Headley in his Life of George Washington, which ran serially in Graham’s Magazine in 1854. This illustration appeared in the June issue.
Between 1854 and 1876, the Liberty Bell stood on display in the Assembly Room on a 13-sided pedestal representing the Thirteen Original States. Sketch by Theo. R. Davis in Harper’s Weekly, July 10, 1869.
It is difficult to find the exact beginnings of this veneration for the Liberty Bell. Independence Hall, the building with which it is so intimately associated, began its evolution as a patriotic shrine about the time of Lafayette’s visit in 1824, but the bell, rarely mentioned earlier, still received no notice. Illustrative of this lack of interest, perhaps, is the late 19th-century tradition, only recently disproved, that in 1828 the Liberty Bell was offered as scrap metal valued at $400 in partial payment to the manufacturer for the new State House bell.
Probably the first use of the bell as a symbolic device dates from 1839. In that year, some unknown person apparently noted the forgotten inscription on the bell. This was immediately seized upon by adherents of the antislavery movement who published a pamphlet, entitled The Liberty Bell. This is also the first known use of that name. Previously, the bell was called the Old State House Bell, the Bell of the Revolution, or Old Independence. That publication was followed by others which displayed the bell, greatly idealized, as a frontispiece. Thus the bell became identified with early antislavery propaganda, invoking the inscription of a promise of freedom to “all the inhabitants.” During this time, it is interesting to note, the symbolism of the bell served a narrow field; little, if any, thought was given it as a patriotic relic.
But patriotism was the next logical step. In the first half of the 19th century the bell became the subject of legendary tales which it has not been possible to verify. These legends have been recited in prose and poetry; they have found their way into children’s textbooks; and they have contributed greatly to rousing the patriotic enthusiasm of succeeding generations of Americans. Accepted by all classes of people, these legends have done more than anything else to make the bell an object of veneration.
From 1876 to 1885, the bell hung in the tower room from a chain of 13 links. Wood engraving in David Scattergood, Hand Book of the State House, Philadelphia, 1890.