9781422287491

10 Liberty Bell: Let Freedom Ring

the capital with his soldiers and cut off the city’s harbor on the Delaware River with ships from the British navy. American troops skirmished with Howe’s men at the battles of Brandywine and Paoli, but were unable to turn back the Redcoats. As Howe’s men approached Philadelphia, nearly everyone in town helped prepare the capital for the British occupation. First, the Continental Congress moved out of the city to Lancaster, about 100 miles away, so the government could continue during the occupa- tion. Next, the Assembly of Pennsylvania—the state’s government—convened on September 14, 1777, at the State House on Chestnut Street in Philadelphia, and issued this order: That Colonel Benjamin Flower employ James Worrell, Francis Allison and Mr. Evans, carpenters, or such other workmen as he may think proper to employ, to take down the bells of all the public buildings in this city and convey them to safety. The four men had their work cut out for them. Many of the bells were hung high in church steeples ; others were very heavy. In fact, the men started their work right at the State House where a grand bell hung in the tower. This bell weighed 2,080 pounds and had been hanging in the State House since 1753. It had chimed to announce many of the great events of the time. The bell was seen as an important symbol during the early years of the new nation. The inscription on the bell promised it would “Proclaim Liberty throughout all the Land.”