The Liberty Bell and Its Legacy: an Encyclopedia of an American Icon in U. S. History and Culture by Vile John R.;

Author:Vile, John R.;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: ABC-CLIO, LLC

A replica of the Mexican Liberty Bell in Mission Dolores Park in San Francisco, California. The Mexican Liberty Bell was originally located in Dolores, Mexico. (David Edelman/Dreamstime.com)

In 1896, this bell was brought to Mexico City. It was accompanied by a cannon that had been inscribed in Spanish with the words, “For the defence of the faith and the purity of Holy Mary” (Rees, 1906, 390).

In 1966, Gustavo Diaz Ordaz, the president of the United Mexican States, presented a replica of this bell to the Mission Delores Park in San Francisco. When President Adolfo Lopez Mateos of Mexico visited the United States in 1962, he gave a replica of the bell, supported on each side by a replica of a child, to President John F. Kennedy.

See also: Replicas of the Liberty Bell

Further Reading

“Mission Dolores Park—The Mexican Liberty Bell Gets a New Home.” July 9, 2014. http://sfrecpark.org/mission-dolores-park-the-mexican-liberty-bell-gets-a-new-home.

Rees, Thomas. 1906. Spain’s Lost Jewels: Cuba and Mexico. Springfield: Illinois State Register.

“Replica of Liberty Bell of Mexico.” John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum. https://www.jfklibrary.org/Asset-Viewer/Archives/JFKSG-MO-1963-1179.aspx.

Moore, R. R. R.

One of the poems that tourists see displayed when they approach the Liberty Bell is a poem attributed to H. R. M. Moore, who is listed in the 1844 Liberty Bell Gift Book as “R. R. R. Moore.” The individual is probably the same person who is identified in an article entitled “Irish Philanthropists” in the 1843 issue of the book, which also identifies him as a member of the Committee of the [Irish] Hibernian Anti-Slavery Society (Liberty Bell Gift Book, 1843, 170). Richard S. Harrison further identifies an “R. R. Moore” as a non-Quaker member of this same society (Harrison, 1991, 116).

Simply entitled “The Liberty Bell,” the poem has a universalistic dimension evident in its opening stanza, which equates liberty with freedom (Friends of Freedom, 1844, 1):

Ring out that hallowed Bell!

Ring it long, ring it long;

Through the wide world let it tell

That Freedom’s strong.

The second stanza expresses the hope “that the whole world shall be free.” The fourth stanza ties the Bell specifically to emancipation (Friends of Freedom, 1844, 2):

Ring it Southward, till its voice

For slavery toll, for slavery toll;

And Freedom’s wakening tough rejoice

Both limb and soul.

The next stanza continues (Friends of Freedom, 1844, 2):

Ring it o’er the negro’s grave!

Ring it deep, ring it deep;

Its tones are sacred to the slave,

In Freedom’s sleep.

The penultimate stanza ties the message of liberty to that of religious nonsectarianism (Friends of Freedom, 1844, 3):

Ring it, till the bonds of sect

Be torn away, be torn away;

Till every man, as God’s elect,

Kneel down to pray.

The final stanza further reemphasizes a universalistic message (Friends of Freedom, 1844, 4):

Ring it, till the world have heard,

And felt, at length, and felt, at length;

Till every living soul be stirred,

And clothed with strength.

See also: Abolitionists and the Liberty Bell; Liberty Bell Gift Books; Names for the Liberty Bell

Further Reading

Friends of Freedom. 1844. The Liberty Bell. Maria Weston Chapman, ed. Boston: Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Fair.

Friends of Freedom. 1843. The Liberty Bell. Maria Weston Chapman, ed. Boston: Boston-Anti-Slavery Society.

Harrison, Richard S. 1991.

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