Welcome to History's Not Boring by Kidopoly.com. I'm Mira! And I'm Finn! Before we jump into today's incredible history adventure, we have some very special shout-outs. A massive hello to Brothers Zane, who is eight, and Amir, who is five.
SPEAKER_01Hi Zayn and Amir! I hear you guys listen every single day on the way to and from school in Sunnyvale, California. That is so cool!
SPEAKER_00And a huge happy seventh birthday to Finley in Superior, Colorado. Finlay loves the show and actually asked us the same exact question that Zane and Amir did. Surrey? What did they all want to know about? They asked us to uncover the secret history of one of the most famous broken objects in the entire world. This episode is especially for you, Zayn, Amir and Finley.
SPEAKER_01Wait, a famous broken object? Usually, when things break, we just throw them away.
SPEAKER_00Not this one, Finn! Imagine buying something brand new, having it shipped thousands of miles across the ocean, and the very first time you test it, crack! It breaks instantly! No way! What was it? The Liberty Bell! It weighs over 2,000 pounds, which is as heavy as an adult great white shark. Today we are going to learn how a massive broken piece of metal became the ultimate symbol of freedom.
SPEAKER_01A £2,000 bell? I am so ready for this. Let's go!
SPEAKER_00Our story starts in the year 1752 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Back then, America wasn't an independent country yet. It was still a group of 13 British colonies. Anyway. Philadelphia was growing incredibly fast, and they had just built a massive new statehouse, which we now call Independence Hall. They needed a bell loud enough to ring over the noisy city streets, to call lawmakers to meetings and warn townspeople of danger. So they just went to a bell store? Nope. They couldn't make one that big in America yet. So, a leader named Isaac Norris ordered it from the famous Whitechapel bell foundry, all the way in London, England.
SPEAKER_01Whoa, so it had to cross the whole Atlantic Ocean on a wooden ship. How big was this thing?
SPEAKER_00Huge! It weighed exactly £2080. It was about four feet tall, and if you walked all the way around the bottom lip, it was 12 feet in circumference.
SPEAKER_0112 feet around? That is almost four feet wide. How much did a giant bell like that cost?
SPEAKER_00It cost about £150 British pounds back then, with shipping, which was a total fortune. It was made of a bronze metal mix that was 70% copper and 25% tin, with trace amounts of gold, silver and arsenic.
SPEAKER_01Okay, so it finally survives the long choppy ocean voyage and arrives in Philadelphia. What happened when they unpacked it?
SPEAKER_00They hung it up on a special wooden stand just to test the sound before hauling it high into the steeple. A crowd gathered around. A man grabbed the heavy metal clapper, pulled it back, and struck the side of the bell.
SPEAKER_01And it sounded beautiful, right? Actually.
unknownCrack!
SPEAKER_00The very first time they struck it, the rim split right open.
SPEAKER_01You are kidding! On the very first ring, that is so embarrassing.
SPEAKER_00It was a complete disaster! Isaac Norris wrote a letter saying he was totally mortified. They even tried to put the broken bell back on a ship to return it to England. But the ship's captain refused to take it on board.
SPEAKER_01So they were stuck with a £2,000 broken bell. What did they do?
SPEAKER_00Enter two local metal workers named John Parse and John Stowe. They were young and pretty inexperienced with bells, but they said, don't worry, we can fix it. How do you fix a giant cracked bell? Do you glue it? You have to completely melt it down and start over. Pars and Stowe took heavy hammers and literally smashed the giant British bell into tiny little pieces. Then they melted it down in a roaring hot furnace.
SPEAKER_01That sounds dangerous. Did they just pour it into a new mould?
SPEAKER_00Yes, but they figured the original metal was too brittle. So they decided to add an ounce and a half of extra American copper for every single pound of old metal to make it stronger.
SPEAKER_01That is super smart. So they recast it, let it cool down, and tried again. Did it work?
SPEAKER_00Well, the good news is it didn't break. The bad news? It sounded absolutely terrible. When they rang it, a witness said it sounded like two coal scuttles being banged together.
SPEAKER_01Oh no, like banging two heavy trash cans together. The townspeople must have been so mad.
SPEAKER_00They were brutally mocked by the crowd. Parson Stowe were so embarrassed, they hastily snuck the bell away and recast it for a third time. This time Pars and Stowe added a bit more tin to improve the musical tone. Finally, in June of 1753, the bell was hung in the steeple of the State House.
SPEAKER_01Phew! Third time is the charm. And did it ring properly? It did!
SPEAKER_00And they even proudly stamped their names, Pars and Stowe, right on the front of it, along with the year, 1753, in Roman numerals. It ran to announce big news for decades.
SPEAKER_01Wait, did it ring during the American Revolution? Like on the 4th of July?
SPEAKER_00Here is a crazy fact. Many people believe it rang on July 8, 1776, to announce the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence. But historians actually think that story might be a legend, made up much later.
SPEAKER_01Wow, so the most famous story about it might just be a myth. History is wild.
SPEAKER_00But it did have a real Revolutionary War adventure. In 1777, when the British Army invaded Philadelphia, the Americans were terrified the British would melt the bell down to make cannons. So, they loaded it onto a wooden wagon, guarded by soldiers, and secretly escaped in the middle of the night to hide it under the floorboards of a church in Allentown, Pennsylvania.
SPEAKER_01A secret nighttime escape for a giant bell. That is amazing. But wait, Mira, the Liberty Bell we see today has a massive crack in it. When did that happen?
SPEAKER_00Over the years of heavy ringing, a thin hairline crack started to form. But the fatal moment came in February 1846. They wanted to ring it to celebrate George Washington's birthday. Did they know it was cracked? They did. So metal workers tried a trick called stop drilling. They actually carved a wide slot along the crack to stop the sides from vibrating and spreading the damage.
SPEAKER_01Wait, so the famous wide crack we see in pictures today is actually the repair job? Exactly!
SPEAKER_00But the repair failed. When they rang it for Washington's birthday, the crack spread even further into the crown, completely ruining it forever. It has never been rung freely since 1846.
SPEAKER_01So it broke, got melted twice, sounded like trash cans, finally worked, had to go into hiding, and then broke again forever. How did it become so famous if it's completely silent?
SPEAKER_00That is the best part of the entire story. Around the 1830s, there were brave people fighting to end slavery in America, called abolitionists. They noticed a specific message stamped onto the metal of the bell. What did the message say? It was an ancient quote from the Bible that said, Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof. The abolitionists pointed to those words and said, America cannot truly be free until everyone is free, including enslaved people.
SPEAKER_01That is such a powerful message. Is that when it got its famous name?
SPEAKER_00Yes. Before that, it was just called the State House Bell. An anti-slavery magazine officially called it the Liberty Bell in 1835, and the name stuck forever.
SPEAKER_01That gives me goosebumps. A broken bell became a massive symbol for freedom and ending slavery.
SPEAKER_00Exactly. And its legacy kept growing. After the Civil War, the bell travelled by special flatbed train all across the country to heal the nation. Millions of people flocked to the train tracks just to touch it. Even women fighting for the right to vote in 1915 used a replica called the Justice Bell to inspire their protests. Where is it now? Can people still visit it? Today, the Liberty Bell sits in a special glass building called the Liberty Bell Centre in Philadelphia. Around two million visitors come from all over the world to see it every single year.
SPEAKER_01I guess being permanently broken didn't ruin the bell at all. It just made it perfectly unique.
SPEAKER_00Well said, Finn. And speaking of perfect, I think it is time to test your historical knowledge. Alright, Finn, it is time for the Kidopoly History Quiz. Are you ready?
SPEAKER_01Oh boy, I hope I can remember all these facts and numbers. I am ready.
SPEAKER_00First question. What year did the original bell arrive in Philadelphia? Next one. How much did the original bell weigh in pounds? Question 3. What were the names of the two metal workers who melted down and recast the bell? Here is number four. What group of people famously gave the bell the name Liberty Bell in the 1830s? Last question. In what year did the bell crack for the final time on George Washington's birthday? Great job! Let's see how you did. Fingers crossed. The first answer is, the original bell arrived in the year 1752. Woohoo! I knew that one! For question two, the original bell weighed exactly £2,080.
SPEAKER_01Still as heavy as a great white shark.
SPEAKER_00Number three, the answer is the two metal workers were John Parse and John Stowe.
SPEAKER_01Ha, the guys who made it sound like two trash cans banging together.
SPEAKER_00Question four. The abolitionists, who were fighting to end slavery, gave it the name Liberty Bell.
SPEAKER_01That is definitely my favourite fact from today.
SPEAKER_00And the final answer is: the bell cracked for the final time in 1846.
SPEAKER_01You know, Mira, I always thought the Liberty Bell cracked because it was rung too hard on the 4th of July. The real history is so much better.
SPEAKER_00I totally agree. From being smashed into tiny pieces by John Pars and John Stowe, to being hidden under a church floorboard, to becoming a giant symbol for freedom and justice. It proves that things do not have to be perfect to be important.
SPEAKER_01Yeah! If it didn't have that huge, famous crack, maybe nobody would even remember it today.
SPEAKER_00That is so true. Hey listeners, if you loved uncovering the secret history of the Liberty Bell with us today, we would love it if you could leave us a five-star review. Yes!
SPEAKER_01Just scroll down on whatever app you are listening on and tap those five stars. Help us spread the word that history is not boring.
SPEAKER_00Oh, and do not forget to check out our site, kidopoly.com. We have got tons of fun learning games, activities, and awesome history resources waiting for you there.
SPEAKER_01And if you want to shout out on the show, like Zane, Amir and Finley, or just want to say hi, send us an email at hello at kidopoly.com.
SPEAKER_00Thank you so much for exploring history with us today. See you next time on History is not boring. Bye everyone!