Philadelphia's city bell had been used to alert the public to proclamations or civic danger since the city's 1682 founding. The original bell hung from a tree behind the Pennsylvania State House (now known as Independence Hall) and was said to have been brought to the city by its founder, William Penn. In 1751, with a bell tower being built in the Pennsylvania State House, civic authorities sought a bell of better quality that could be heard at a greater distance in the rapidly expanding city.

The Liberty Bell is 70% Copper, 20% Tin, and 10% other metals.

The bell first cracked when rung after its arrival in Philadelphia in 1752, and was twice recast by local workmen John Pass and John Stow, whose last names appear on the bell. In its early years, the bell was used to summon lawmakers to legislative sessions and to alert citizens about public meetings and proclamations.

City officials scheduled a public celebration with free food and drink for the testing of the recast bell. When the bell was struck, it did not break, but the sound produced was described by one hearer as like two coal scuttles being banged together. Mocked by the crowd, Pass and Stow hastily took the bell away and again recast it. When the fruit of their renewed efforts was brought forth in June 1753, the sound was deemed satisfactory.

John Marshall served as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court for over 34 years. The Liberty Bell was rung following his death, and according to legend, this was when the bell cracked, never to be rung again.

After George Washington's defeat at the Battle of Brandywine on September 11, 1777, the revolutionary capital of Philadelphia was defenseless and prepared for British attack. The Supreme Executive Council of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania ordered that eleven bells, including the Liberty Bell, be removed from the city to prevent the British from melting them down for cannonballs. The bells were hidden in the basement of the Zion Reformed Church in what is now Allentown.

The bell was cast with the lettering "Proclaim LIBERTY Throughout all the Land unto all the Inhabitants Thereof," a Biblical quote from Leviticus 25:10.

The bell was originally known as the State House Bell or Old State House Bell. In the late 1830s, it acquired its current name when it became a symbol of the anti-slavery movement.

Pennsylvania is misspelled "Pensylvania". This spelling was one of several acceptable spellings of the name at that time.

The bell was ordered from the London bellfounding firm of Lester and Pack (known subsequently as the Whitechapel Bell Foundry) for the sum of £150 13s 8d, (equivalent to £23,850.62 today) including freight to Philadelphia and insurance.