Independence National Historical Park

The Liberty Bell and Independence Hall

The Liberty Bell cracked long ago, but as an icon of freedom its voice has never been stilled. To Americans who demanded independence on this site, and to those who even now seek self-determination, it still declares "Proclaim Liberty throughout All the land unto All the Inhabitants Thereof." Its crack is a reminder that liberty is imperfect, hopefully evolving to include those who have been denied full participation in a democratic society.

The bell was first heard in 1753 atop the Pennsylvania State House in Philadelphia. Its inscription was prophetic, for it was in this city that colonial representatives took some of the earliest steps towards independence from Great Britain. In response to Parliament’s punitive Intolerable Acts, the First Continental Congress gathered in September 1774 in Carpenters’ Hall, where it drew up a Declaration of Rights and Grievances and an appeal to King George III. No concessions were forthcoming, so the Second Continental Congress convened in the State House in May 1775. By this time the first shots had been fired at Lexington and Concord. Delegates who had been managing an economic battle over trade and taxes now had to direct a war.

Loyalists vs. the Continental Congress

Independence, however, was not yet the goal. Many colonists remained loyal to Britain, and some, though anxious to throw off Parliament’s yoke, still wished to keep the stability and security that came with being citizens of the British empire. George III, unmoved by Congress’s Olive Branch Petition affirming the colonies’ loyalty to the crown, declared them to be in a state of rebellion. In June 1776 Virginia delegate Richard Henry Lee moved that the colonies be proclaimed "Free and Independent States." Thomas Jefferson drafted the formal declaration, appealing to natural principles of justice and equality. The delegates adopted the Declaration Independence Hall on July 4; what had been colonies were now sovereign states on the road to becoming one nation.

Article of Confederation

With the bold phrases of the Declaration of Independence still echoing through the land, the Continental Congress had to translate an assertion of freedom into a working reality. In November 1777 it produced the Articles of Confederation, which, rather than providing for real union, were in James Madison’s words "a treaty of alliance between independent and Sovereign States." Individual states were jealous of their sovereignty, allowing the central government few real powers other than to direct the war. Yet it was the first halting step towards a stable federalism, in which power was shared by a central government and local states.

The Articles served the new nation during the war, but their obvious inadequacies, and popular movements demanding debt relief, spurred widespread sentiment for reform. Fifty-five delegates were sent to Philadelphia in 1787 to review the Articles for "the preservation of the Union." Soon after convening, however, the delegates agreed to create an entirely new constitutional government. The Great Compromise, calling for a House of Representatives with proportional representation and a Senate with each state represented equally, ensured that small states and varied sectional interests would all have a voice. The states retained some attributes of sovereignty, but the central government had stronger powers, now with executive and judicial branches. Though the Constitution was not perfect – it failed to adequately address slavery – it provided a firm yet flexible structure around which to build a nation.