There’s something strangely powerful about replicas. We tend to think of them as lesser – copies of something “real,” echoes without a voice of their own. But every now and then, a replica carries a different kind of weight, not because of where it comes from, but because of what it stands for. Vermont’s Liberty Bell replica is one of those objects.
In 1950, President Harry Truman launched a campaign to sell US bonds to fund the rebuilding of our military after WWII. As part of the Treasury Department initiative tied to the bond drives, more than fifty Liberty Bell replicas were cast in France and distributed across the country – one for each state and territory. Vermont received its bell in 1950. This bell made a pilgrimage around our fair state stopping in towns, fairs and at expositions, promoting the ideal of liberty and the US bonds before making its journey to Montpelier for its final resting place.
The Liberty Bell (originally called the State House bell) is iconic. Its crack has become part of its identity. The original State House bell was made in 1751 in London at the Whitechapel Foundry and cracked with its very first use. It had to be melted down and recast by local metal workers John Pass and John Stow. It was used regularly to call the legislators to meetings and the townspeople to hear the news until the early 1840’s when it developed a crack. The bell was fixed unsuccessfully as it developed another fissure which resulted in the bell never being rung again.
Unlike the original Liberty Bell, the Vermont Liberty Bell replica has never cracked. It doesn’t carry the scars of history and use as a working bell for 90+ years, but it does carry its message. Cast with the same inscription – “Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof” from Lev. 25:10, the bell serves less as an artifact and more as an invitation for liberty and freedom.
Vermont has always had an independent streak. Before it became the 14th state, it existed briefly as its own republic. It was the first state to prohibit slavery. Its identity has long been shaped by local governance and civic participation. In that context, the Liberty Bell replica feels less like a borrowed symbol and more like a natural fit. The Vermont motto is “Freedom and Unity.”
In the 1750’s and for 90+ years, the Liberty Bell was used regularly to call the legislators to meetings and the townspeople to hear the news in Philadelphia. In the 19th century, the Liberty Bell was a rallying cry for the abolitionists and in the early 1910’s, it was used as a symbol for the Women’s suffrage movement. What cry does it bring out in us today? Liberty? Freedom? Gal 5:1 says “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”
My journey to learn about the Liberty Bell replicas began when I saw one in Concord NH on the State House lawn. On the metal placard next to the bell, it mentions that every state had a bell made and I decided to research if Vermont had one and where it was located. I have been in discussions with Vermont state officials about how our bell could be included in the upcoming celebrations of our country’s big 250th anniversary. I encourage everyone to seek out their state Liberty Bell replica this year.