Who cast the Liberty Bell and when?
As the population of the colony of Pennsylvania grew, so did the need for an official building to house the colony’s government body, the Pennsylvania Assembly. Construction of the State House (now known as Independence Hall) began in 1732. Part of the construction order included the making of a bell tower on the building’s south side. When the steeple work was completed in early 1751, a bell was hung in the new tower. Unfortunately, this bell could not be heard throughout all parts of Philadelphia and it was decided that a new bell was needed. The Pennsylvania Assembly Speaker and Chairman of the State House Superintendents, Isaac Norris, contacted the Assembly’s London agent, Robert Charles, by letter asking him to purchase a “good Bell of about two thousand pounds weight” and included instructions for the inscription on the Bell. Charles commissioned the Whitechapel Bell Foundry in England under the direction of master founder, Thomas Lester, on November 1, 1751. The bell arrived in
