1 00:00:01,920 --> 00:00:06,520 Speaker 1: Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of I Heart Radio, Hey 2 00:00:06,559 --> 00:00:10,479 Speaker 1: brain Stuff Lauren boge bam here. Throughout its long life, 3 00:00:10,520 --> 00:00:13,039 Speaker 1: the Liberty Bell has served as an example of just 4 00:00:13,160 --> 00:00:16,720 Speaker 1: how vague are collective memories can be. Starting with the 5 00:00:16,760 --> 00:00:21,600 Speaker 1: bell's famous crack. Historians have theories, but in short, no 6 00:00:21,640 --> 00:00:25,160 Speaker 1: one knows precisely when or why the bell was damaged. 7 00:00:25,840 --> 00:00:28,560 Speaker 1: It wasn't even called the Liberty Bell until long after 8 00:00:28,640 --> 00:00:31,440 Speaker 1: it was hung. When it was first introduced in seventeen 9 00:00:31,480 --> 00:00:34,280 Speaker 1: fifty one, it was called the State House Bell because 10 00:00:34,320 --> 00:00:37,120 Speaker 1: it was created for the steeple of the Pennsylvania State 11 00:00:37,159 --> 00:00:41,040 Speaker 1: House in Philadelphia. The Liberty Bell nickname came much later, 12 00:00:41,200 --> 00:00:45,000 Speaker 1: around eighteen thirty nine, when abolitionists leveraged the bell as 13 00:00:45,000 --> 00:00:49,479 Speaker 1: a symbol in their fight against slavery. Throughout American history, 14 00:00:49,720 --> 00:00:51,800 Speaker 1: the bell has been used in the service of many 15 00:00:51,840 --> 00:00:56,640 Speaker 1: different causes, but initially it was just a bell. It 16 00:00:56,680 --> 00:01:00,000 Speaker 1: was commissioned by the Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly, and it arrived 17 00:01:00,040 --> 00:01:03,880 Speaker 1: in Philadelphia in September of seventeen fifty two after being 18 00:01:03,920 --> 00:01:07,920 Speaker 1: cast by Lester and Pack, later renamed the Whitechapel Foundry 19 00:01:07,959 --> 00:01:11,720 Speaker 1: in London. It was inscribed with the words proclaim liberty 20 00:01:11,760 --> 00:01:16,200 Speaker 1: throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof biblical 21 00:01:16,240 --> 00:01:21,600 Speaker 1: reference from Leviticus. And it is a really big bell, 22 00:01:22,040 --> 00:01:25,000 Speaker 1: measured three ft high with a circumference of twelve feet 23 00:01:25,000 --> 00:01:27,959 Speaker 1: at the bottom lip that's about a meter by three 24 00:01:28,000 --> 00:01:31,600 Speaker 1: and a half meters, Made of around seventy copper and 25 00:01:31,640 --> 00:01:35,600 Speaker 1: ten it tips the scales at nearly two thousand, one 26 00:01:35,680 --> 00:01:39,680 Speaker 1: hundred pounds or nine d and fifty kilos. Once installed, 27 00:01:39,959 --> 00:01:42,959 Speaker 1: the bell was used to alert citizens to urgent news, 28 00:01:43,000 --> 00:01:46,160 Speaker 1: to summon lawmakers to the state House for important business, 29 00:01:46,240 --> 00:01:50,880 Speaker 1: and as part of funeral ceremonies. Although historians disagree on 30 00:01:50,960 --> 00:01:54,200 Speaker 1: when the bell cracked, most believed that the crack happened 31 00:01:54,240 --> 00:01:58,200 Speaker 1: almost immediately after the bell's initial use in seventeen fifty two, 32 00:01:58,720 --> 00:02:03,760 Speaker 1: whereupon local shows jumped into action. We spoke via email 33 00:02:03,760 --> 00:02:07,279 Speaker 1: with Stephen Freed, a journalist, historian, and author who teaches 34 00:02:07,320 --> 00:02:11,560 Speaker 1: at Columbia University and the University of Pennsylvania. He said 35 00:02:11,919 --> 00:02:15,200 Speaker 1: a replacement bell was ordered immediately from England, but in 36 00:02:15,240 --> 00:02:19,160 Speaker 1: the meantime, local founders John Pass and John Stowe melted 37 00:02:19,200 --> 00:02:22,040 Speaker 1: down the busted original, added some metal of their own, 38 00:02:22,120 --> 00:02:25,360 Speaker 1: and made a copy. That copy is what we know 39 00:02:25,560 --> 00:02:28,800 Speaker 1: as the Liberty Bell, but the foundry in England also 40 00:02:28,880 --> 00:02:31,880 Speaker 1: sent a replacement, and both hung in the new State 41 00:02:31,880 --> 00:02:35,919 Speaker 1: House Tower. At the State House, the bell was witnessed 42 00:02:35,960 --> 00:02:39,560 Speaker 1: to some of America's most powerful history. It's all gatherings 43 00:02:39,560 --> 00:02:42,760 Speaker 1: of the Second Continental Congress, as well as countless meetings 44 00:02:42,760 --> 00:02:47,760 Speaker 1: that sparked the Revolutionary War. In seventeen seventy seven, as 45 00:02:47,800 --> 00:02:50,959 Speaker 1: the British army threatened the city, locals removed the bell 46 00:02:51,080 --> 00:02:53,919 Speaker 1: for fear of it being captured and melted from munitions. 47 00:02:54,320 --> 00:02:57,880 Speaker 1: It was hidden under the floorboards of a church in Allentown, Pennsylvania. 48 00:02:58,400 --> 00:03:03,400 Speaker 1: In it was raised again, but the bell didn't hold 49 00:03:03,400 --> 00:03:07,400 Speaker 1: any particularly symbolic importance until eighteen twenty four, when the 50 00:03:07,440 --> 00:03:11,160 Speaker 1: Marquis de Lafayette, the last surviving French general of the Revolution, 51 00:03:11,560 --> 00:03:14,360 Speaker 1: went on a year long public victory tour of all 52 00:03:14,440 --> 00:03:17,600 Speaker 1: twenty four states in the Union. With that grand visit, 53 00:03:17,800 --> 00:03:22,639 Speaker 1: America saw a resurgence in its national pride. Freed said, 54 00:03:22,760 --> 00:03:26,400 Speaker 1: the nation first started taking its history seriously, and during 55 00:03:26,480 --> 00:03:30,200 Speaker 1: his tour, they started calling the building Independence Hall and 56 00:03:30,240 --> 00:03:33,359 Speaker 1: realizing its importance. Along with the importance of the bell, 57 00:03:34,360 --> 00:03:36,640 Speaker 1: it wasn't until a decade later that the bell's famous 58 00:03:36,720 --> 00:03:40,920 Speaker 1: nickname took hold. Freed explained it began being called Liberty 59 00:03:40,960 --> 00:03:43,760 Speaker 1: Bell in eighteen thirty five, when the phrase first appeared 60 00:03:43,760 --> 00:03:46,400 Speaker 1: at a pamphlet published by the New York Anti Slavery 61 00:03:46,480 --> 00:03:49,200 Speaker 1: Society as the title of a rant about the bell 62 00:03:49,480 --> 00:03:54,880 Speaker 1: never peeling for African Americans. Some historians think that the 63 00:03:54,920 --> 00:03:57,760 Speaker 1: newer bell was damaged in eighteen thirty five, when it 64 00:03:57,840 --> 00:04:00,280 Speaker 1: was wrong to mark the death of the then Chief 65 00:04:00,280 --> 00:04:04,000 Speaker 1: Justice of the United States, John Marshall. Others believed the 66 00:04:04,040 --> 00:04:07,160 Speaker 1: damage occurred in the early eighteen forties, either during the 67 00:04:07,200 --> 00:04:10,480 Speaker 1: celebration of the fourth of July or of George Washington's 68 00:04:10,520 --> 00:04:15,240 Speaker 1: birthday on February. The crack might have come about from 69 00:04:15,320 --> 00:04:17,920 Speaker 1: ninety years of hard use, or it might have been 70 00:04:18,000 --> 00:04:21,760 Speaker 1: due to the metallic composition of the bell. In Nive 71 00:04:21,880 --> 00:04:24,280 Speaker 1: Researchers at the Winter Third Museum took a closer look 72 00:04:24,279 --> 00:04:27,599 Speaker 1: at the bell's makeup using X ray florescent spectroscopy and 73 00:04:27,640 --> 00:04:30,920 Speaker 1: determined that its high tin content resulted in a brittle 74 00:04:30,920 --> 00:04:35,640 Speaker 1: composition that was prone to cracking. In any case, crack 75 00:04:35,839 --> 00:04:39,839 Speaker 1: it did, But in eighteen forty six, the people were 76 00:04:39,880 --> 00:04:43,640 Speaker 1: again determined to ring the bell for Washington's birthday, so 77 00:04:43,680 --> 00:04:48,159 Speaker 1: they set about making repairs using a method called stop drilling. 78 00:04:48,279 --> 00:04:51,400 Speaker 1: They actually widened the crack, which is now twenty one 79 00:04:51,440 --> 00:04:54,000 Speaker 1: inches long and nearly an inch wide, which is about 80 00:04:54,040 --> 00:04:57,080 Speaker 1: half a meter by two centimeters, so that when the 81 00:04:57,120 --> 00:05:00,320 Speaker 1: bell was rung, the sides of the crack wouldn't much. 82 00:05:00,760 --> 00:05:03,279 Speaker 1: If they could touch, they'd vibrate against each other and 83 00:05:03,400 --> 00:05:08,240 Speaker 1: generate a terrible buzzing sound. But the repair wasn't successful. 84 00:05:08,640 --> 00:05:13,000 Speaker 1: Another crack developed and the bell sounded no more, but 85 00:05:13,200 --> 00:05:16,679 Speaker 1: that didn't mean it disappeared quietly. In the late eighteen 86 00:05:16,680 --> 00:05:20,160 Speaker 1: and early nineteen hundreds, the bell went on occasional national tours. 87 00:05:20,760 --> 00:05:24,480 Speaker 1: In nineteen fifteen, politicians decided to hold a ceremonial ringing 88 00:05:24,520 --> 00:05:26,960 Speaker 1: of the broken bell in hopes of drumming up support 89 00:05:27,000 --> 00:05:30,760 Speaker 1: for World War One. It wasn't wrung technically, but tapped 90 00:05:30,760 --> 00:05:33,880 Speaker 1: with a mallet. That led to the bell becoming a 91 00:05:33,920 --> 00:05:37,080 Speaker 1: symbol of the immense fundraising effort for the war in 92 00:05:37,120 --> 00:05:40,320 Speaker 1: the form of buying liberty bonds. In nineteen seventeen and 93 00:05:40,400 --> 00:05:44,600 Speaker 1: nineteen eighteen, it was also sent on a national railroad 94 00:05:44,680 --> 00:05:47,479 Speaker 1: tour with a new fangled lighting system that kept it 95 00:05:47,520 --> 00:05:50,560 Speaker 1: illuminated each night on its journey aboard the Liberty Bell, 96 00:05:50,640 --> 00:05:55,080 Speaker 1: special citizens flocked to see it. By some estimates, nearly 97 00:05:55,120 --> 00:05:58,200 Speaker 1: a quarter of the entire country managed to set eyes 98 00:05:58,279 --> 00:06:01,840 Speaker 1: on this symbol of freedom, and the Liberty Bond drives 99 00:06:01,839 --> 00:06:05,279 Speaker 1: were a smashing success, raising billions of dollars in war 100 00:06:05,360 --> 00:06:08,919 Speaker 1: bonds to help the Allied powers win the war. In 101 00:06:08,960 --> 00:06:11,800 Speaker 1: two thousand three, the Liberty Bell Center at Independence Hall 102 00:06:11,839 --> 00:06:15,120 Speaker 1: in Philadelphia opened, which is where the bell now resides. 103 00:06:15,880 --> 00:06:18,520 Speaker 1: Over the decades, there have been numerous calls to repair 104 00:06:18,600 --> 00:06:21,440 Speaker 1: it and make it whole, or even to melt it down, 105 00:06:21,600 --> 00:06:25,320 Speaker 1: balance its composition, and then recast it to make it usable, 106 00:06:26,200 --> 00:06:29,360 Speaker 1: but a representative for the National Park Service, which runs 107 00:06:29,400 --> 00:06:32,159 Speaker 1: the center, said that fixing the bell would serve no 108 00:06:32,320 --> 00:06:36,919 Speaker 1: purpose as the crack is its most recognizable feature, and furthermore, 109 00:06:37,080 --> 00:06:42,200 Speaker 1: might be legally sticky as it's a historical artifact. Freed said, 110 00:06:42,240 --> 00:06:45,320 Speaker 1: of these never attempted repair plans, all of them have 111 00:06:45,400 --> 00:06:48,520 Speaker 1: been ridiculous because the bell is a more perfect symbol 112 00:06:48,560 --> 00:06:51,240 Speaker 1: of our desire for a more perfect union than it 113 00:06:51,240 --> 00:06:56,120 Speaker 1: would ever have been unbroken. The bell is the most enduring, powerful, 114 00:06:56,320 --> 00:07:00,120 Speaker 1: yet approachable symbol of our country, even its crack, as 115 00:07:00,160 --> 00:07:04,880 Speaker 1: part of our patriotic metaphorical landscape. He then recalled the 116 00:07:04,960 --> 00:07:07,760 Speaker 1: lyrics from the song Anthem by the late Leonard Cohen, 117 00:07:08,760 --> 00:07:12,040 Speaker 1: ring the bells that still can ring, forget your perfect offering. 118 00:07:12,400 --> 00:07:14,760 Speaker 1: There is a crack in everything. That's how the light 119 00:07:14,800 --> 00:07:22,480 Speaker 1: gets in. Today's episode was written by Nathan Chandler and 120 00:07:22,520 --> 00:07:24,920 Speaker 1: produced by Tyler Clang. For more on this and lots 121 00:07:24,960 --> 00:07:27,120 Speaker 1: of topics that are exactly what they're cracked up to be, 122 00:07:27,400 --> 00:07:30,000 Speaker 1: what is it how stuff works dot com. Brain Stuff 123 00:07:30,040 --> 00:07:32,160 Speaker 1: is a production of I Heart Radio. For more podcasts 124 00:07:32,200 --> 00:07:35,240 Speaker 1: for my heart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, 125 00:07:35,320 --> 00:07:37,040 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.