What was the First Name Given to the Liberty Bell?

The Liberty Bell wasn’t always known by that name. In fact, before 1839, it didn’t necessarily have an official name at all. At that time, it was best known merely as the “State House bell” because of its location in the tower of Independence Hall in Philadelphia, which was also called the Pennsylvania State House.

The "Liberty Bell" was originally commissioned and created in 1751 by the Pennsylvania Assembly to commemorate the anniversary of the state’s original Constitution. It wasn’t until the 1830s that the Bell came to symbolize Liberty in particular, especially to the abolitionist movement. It was the abolitionists who first referred to it as the Liberty Bell, in reference to its inscription from Leviticus 25:10: "Proclaim Liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof.”

The name “Liberty Bell” was first officially documented in usage by “The Liberator,” an anti-slavery pamphlet published in Boston by an abolitionist named William Lloyd Garrison. Garrison’s publication featured a poem written about the Bell, aptly titled “The Liberty Bell.” The poem is the first published, documented usage of the name in reference to the bell.

The bell’s connection with the freedom of the United States as a country, and with the Declaration of Independence, is actually based largely on a misnomer. In 1847, a fictional story published in a popular newspaper told the tale of a bellman waiting in the tower of Independence Hall, waiting to hear if Congress had declared the US a free country. When he learned the news, he rang the bell to signify the emancipation to all those within earshot. This fictional story caught the imaginations of US citizens, and created an association between the Bell and the United States as a free nation.