Editing Liberty Bell (section)

===19th century===
[[File:Bellringer1776.jpg|thumb|''The Bellman Informed of the Passage of the Declaration of Independence'', an 1854 illustration of the story of the Liberty Bell being rung on July 4, 1776|alt=An elderly man looks excitedly around as a boy enters a bell chamber. The old man holds a rope leading to the Liberty Bell in his hand.]]
In 1828, the City of Philadelphia sold the second Lester and Pack bell to [[St. Augustine Church (Philadelphia)|St. Augustine's Roman Catholic Church]], which was burned down in 1844 by an anti-[[Catholic Church|Catholic]] mob in the [[Philadelphia Nativist Riots]]. The remains of the bell were recast and then housed at [[Villanova University]] in nearby [[Villanova, Pennsylvania]].<ref>Kimball, p. 70</ref>

It is not definitively known when or how the Liberty Bell first came to be cracked, but it is known that the damage occurred sometime between 1817 and 1846 and likely toward the end of this period. In 1837, the bell was depicted in an anti-slavery publication, and no crack is identifiable in that image. Nine years later, in February 1846, the ''[[Public Ledger (Philadelphia)|Public Ledger]]'' reported that the bell was rung the day following [[Washington's Birthday]], on February 23, 1846. Since February 22 was a Sunday, the celebration occurred the next day. The newspaper reported that the bell had long been cracked, but had been "put in order" by having the sides of the crack filed. The paper reported that, around noon on February 23, 1846, it was discovered that the bell's ringing was causing the crack to be extended, and that "the old Independence Bell...now hangs in the great city steeple irreparably cracked and forever dumb."<ref name="dumb">Kimball, pp. 43–45</ref>

The most common story about the cracking of the bell, which originated in 1876, is that it happened when the bell was rung upon the 1835 death of the [[Chief Justice of the United States|Supreme Court Chief Justice]] [[John Marshall]] when the volunteer curator of [[Independence Hall]], Colonel Frank Etting, announced that he had ascertained the truth of the bell's cracking. While there is little evidence to support Etting's view, it was widely accepted and taught. Other claims regarding the crack's origin include stories that it was damaged during welcoming ceremonies for [[Gilbert du Motier, marquis de Lafayette|Lafayette]] [[Visit of the Marquis de Lafayette to the United States (1824–25)|on his return to the United States]] in 1824, that it cracked announcing the passing of the British [[Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829]], and that some boys had been invited to ring the bell and inadvertently damaged it. David Kimball, in a book authored for the [[National Park Service]], suggests that it most likely cracked sometime between 1841 and 1845, during its ringing on either Independence Day or on Washington's Birthday.<ref>Kimball, pp. 43–47</ref>

The Pass and Stow bell was first termed "the Liberty Bell" in ''Anti-Slavery Record'', a journal published by the New York Anti-Slavery Society. Two years later, in 1837, in another publication by the society in the journal ''Liberty'', an image of the bell appears on its cover under the heading, "Proclaim Liberty".<ref>Nash, p. 36</ref> In 1839, Boston's Friends of Liberty, another abolitionist group, titled their journal ''The Liberty Bell''. The same year, William Lloyd Garrison's anti-slavery publication ''The Liberator'' reprinted a Boston abolitionist pamphlet containing a poem entitled "The Liberty Bell" that noted that, at that time, despite its inscription, the bell did not proclaim liberty to all the inhabitants of the land.<ref>Nash, pp. 37–38</ref>

A great part of the modern image of the bell as a relic of the proclamation of American independence was forged by writer [[George Lippard]]. On January 2, 1847, he published an article, "Fourth of July, 1776", in the ''Saturday Courier''.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.ushistory.org/independencehall/history/lippard.htm |title=George Lippard's "Fourth of July" |access-date=December 26, 2018 |archive-date=December 26, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181226133806/http://www.ushistory.org/independencehall/history/lippard.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> The short story depicted an aged bellman on July 4, 1776, sitting morosely by the bell, fearing that [[Second Continental Congress|Congress]] would not have the courage to declare independence. At the most dramatic moment, a young boy appears with instructions for the old man: to ring the bell. It was subsequently published in Lippard's collected stories.<ref name="Lippard1847">{{cite book|author=George Lippard|title=The Rose of Wissahikon, Or, The Fourth of July, 1776: A Romance, Embracing the Secret History of the Declaration of Independence|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7EU5AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA63|year=1847|publisher=G.B. Zieber & Company|pages=63–|access-date=December 27, 2018|archive-date=April 18, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210418152413/https://books.google.com/books?id=7EU5AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA63|url-status=live}}</ref> The story was widely reprinted and closely linked the Liberty Bell to the Declaration of Independence in the public mind.<ref>Kimball, p. 56</ref> The elements of the story were reprinted in early historian [[Benson J. Lossing]]'s ''The Pictorial Field Guide to the Revolution'' (published in 1850) as historical fact,<ref>Paige, p. 83</ref> and the tale was widely repeated for generations after in school primers.<ref>de Bolla, p. 108</ref>

In 1848, with the rise of interest in the bell, the city decided to move it to the Assembly Room, also known as the Declaration Chamber, on the first floor, where the Declaration and [[United States Constitution]] had been debated and signed.<ref>Nash, p. 47</ref> The city constructed an ornate pedestal for the bell. The Liberty Bell was displayed on that pedestal for the next quarter-century, surmounted by an eagle (originally sculpted, later stuffed).<ref>Nash, pp. 50–51</ref> In 1853, President [[Franklin Pierce]] visited Philadelphia and the bell, and spoke of the bell as symbolizing the American Revolution and American liberty.<ref>Kimball, p. 60</ref> At the time, Independence Hall was also used as a courthouse, and African-American newspapers pointed out the incongruity of housing a symbol of liberty in the same building in which federal judges were holding hearings under the [[Fugitive Slave Act of 1850|Fugitive Slave Act]].<ref>Nash, pp. 48–49</ref>

In February 1861, then [[President-elect of the United States|President-elect]] [[Abraham Lincoln]] came to the Assembly Room and delivered an address en route to his inauguration in Washington D.C.<ref name="linc">{{Cite journal |last=Hoch |first=Bradley R. |title=The Lincoln landscape: Looking for Lincoln's Philadelphia: A personal journey from Washington Square to Independence Hall |journal=Journal of the Abraham Lincoln Association |volume=25 |issue=2 |pages=59–70 |date=Summer 2004 |url=http://www.historycooperative.org/journals/jala/25.2/hoch.html |access-date=August 10, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110525151350/http://www.historycooperative.org/journals/jala/25.2/hoch.html |archive-date=May 25, 2011}}</ref> In 1865, Lincoln's body was returned to the Assembly Room after [[Assassination of Abraham Lincoln|his assassination]] for a public viewing of his body, en route to his burial in [[Springfield, Illinois]]. Due to time constraints, only a small fraction of those wishing to pass by the coffin were able to; the lines to see the coffin were never less than {{convert|3|mi}} long.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Schwartz |first=Barry |title=Abraham Lincoln and the Forge of National Memory |publisher=University of Chicago Press |location=Chicago |year=2003 |page=40 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7hL8-GLkHaYC&q=abraham+lincoln+liberty+bell |isbn=0-226-74198-2 |access-date=August 10, 2010 |archive-date=April 18, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210418152441/https://books.google.com/books?id=7hL8-GLkHaYC&q=abraham+lincoln+liberty+bell |url-status=live }}</ref> Nevertheless, between 120,000 and 140,000&nbsp;people were able to pass by the open casket and then the bell, carefully placed at Lincoln's head so mourners could read the inscription, "Proclaim Liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof."<ref name="linc" />

[[File:Liberty Bell 1872 - crop.jpg|thumb|The Liberty Bell on its ornate stand in [[Independence Hall]] in 1872]]
[[File:Liberty Bell at Bunker Hill 1903.jpg|thumb|The Liberty Bell at [[Bunker Hill Monument|Bunker Hill]] in [[Boston]] in 1903|alt=The Liberty Bell on a wagon; a number of people, including policemen, pose with it.]]
[[File:Libbell1908.jpeg|thumb|The Liberty Bell is paraded through the streets of [[Philadelphia]] in 1908, in a recreation of its September 1777 journey to [[Allentown, Pennsylvania|Allentown]] just prior to the [[Philadelphia campaign|fall of Philadelphia]] to the [[British Army during the American Revolutionary War|British]]|alt=A large bell is seen tied to a wagon. Soldiers in Revolutionary War uniforms stand by.]]
[[File:The Bell's First Note by JLG Ferris.jpg|thumb|''The Bell's First Note'', a 1913 painting of the Liberty Bell by [[Jean Leon Gerome Ferris]]|alt=A painting in which a man in working clothes shows off the Liberty Bell to a number of well-dressed people, who are conferring. A woman prepares to tap the bell with a hammer.]]
[[File:Bell crack.png|thumb|A 1915 photo of the Liberty Bell's hairline crack, which developed at some point in the 19th century, possibly in July 1835 as the bell rung following the death of [[Chief Justice of the United States|U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice]] [[John Marshall]]]]
In 1876, [[Philadelphia]] city officials discussed what role the bell should play in the nation's Centennial festivities. Some wanted to repair it so it could sound at the [[Centennial Exposition]] being held in Philadelphia, but the idea was not adopted. The bell's custodians concluded that it was unlikely that the metal could be made into a bell that would have a pleasant sound, and that the crack had become part of the bell's character. Instead, a replica weighing {{convert|13000|lb}}, representing 1,000&nbsp;pounds for each of the [[Thirteen Colonies]], was cast. The metal used for what was dubbed "the Centennial Bell" included four melted-down cannons: one used by each side in the [[American Revolutionary War]], and one used by each side in the [[American Civil War]]. The bell was rung at the Exposition grounds on July 4, 1876, and was later recast to improve the sound. The bell is currently attached to the clock in the steeple of Independence Hall.<ref>Nash, pp. 63–65</ref> While the Liberty Bell was not displayed at the Centennial Exposition, a great many exposition visitors came to visit it. Its image was ubiquitous throughout the exposition grounds. Myriad souvenirs were sold bearing its image or shape, and state pavilions contained replicas of the bell made of substances ranging from stone to tobacco.<ref>Nash, pp. 66–68</ref> In 1877, the bell was hung from the ceiling of the Assembly Room by a chain with thirteen links.<ref>Kimball, p. 68</ref>

Between 1885 and 1915, the Liberty Bell was transported to seven expositions and celebrations. Each time, the bell traveled by [[railroad]], and an extra number of rail stops were made along way so that local people could view it.<ref>de Bolla, p. 111</ref> By 1885, the Liberty Bell was widely recognized as a symbol of freedom, and as a treasured relic of independence and freedom, and was growing increasingly famous as versions of [[George Lippard]]'s legend were reprinted in history and school books.<ref>Nash, p. 77</ref> In early 1885, the city agreed to let it travel to [[New Orleans]] for the [[World Cotton Centennial]] exposition. Large crowds mobbed the bell at each stop. In [[Biloxi, Mississippi]], the former [[President of the Confederate States of America]], [[Jefferson Davis]], visited the bell and delivered a speech paying homage to it and urging national unity.<ref>Nash, pp. 79–80</ref> In 1893, it was sent to the [[World Columbian Exposition]] in [[Chicago]], where it was the centerpiece of the state's exhibit in the Pennsylvania Building.<ref>Nash, pp. 84–85</ref> On July 4, 1893, in Chicago, the bell was serenaded with the first performance of ''[[The Liberty Bell March]]'', conducted by  [[John Philip Sousa]].<ref>Nash, pp. 89–90</ref> 

Philadelphians began to cool to the idea of sending it to other cities when it returned from Chicago bearing a new crack, and each new proposed journey met with increasing opposition.<ref name="new">Kimball, p. 69</ref> It was also found that the bell's private watchman had been cutting off small pieces for souvenirs. Philadelphia placed the bell in a glass-fronted oak case.<ref>Nash, p. 98</ref> 

In 1898, it was taken out of the glass case and hung from its yoke again in the tower hall of [[Independence Hall]], a room that would remain its home until the end of 1975. A guard was posted by the bell to prevent souvenir hunters who might otherwise chip at it.<ref>Paige, p. 43</ref>

By 1909, the bell was sent on six trips. The bell's cracking worsened, and souvenir hunters had chipped off pieces of it, depriving it of over one percent of its weight. Its weight was reported as {{convert|2080|lb|abbr=on}} in 1904.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://archive.org/details/philadelphiabirt00ashm_0|title=Philadelphia, the birthplace of the nation, the pivot of industry, the city of homes.|first=Henry Graham|last=Ashmead|year=1904 |publisher=Shelden|via=Internet Archive}}</ref>