Independence Hall

“ Little beyond actual maintenance of the buildings seems to have occurred until 1872 when, with the approach of the Centennial of the Independence of the United States, a committee for the restoration of Independence Hall was named by the Mayor. The committee entered upon its duties with energy. Furniture believed to have been in the Assembly Room in 1776 was gathered from the State Capitol at Harrisburg and from private sources. Portraits of the “founding fathers” were hung in the room. ”

“ In the state house the four little patriots saw a large apartment on the first floor which the men said was Independence Hall. It was decorated with quaint carvings, and pictures of famous Americans adorned its walls. Many of the chairs used by the members of Congress in 1776 still stood here to remind the children of that great event—the reading and signing of the Declaration of Independence, executed in this city. ”

“ Lithograph of Independence Hall in 1876. (Note Bailey’s statue of Washington opposite Chestnut Street entrance.) Courtesy Philadelphia Free Library.
With the 20th century, emphasis shifted from Independence Hall to the remainder of the group. Although some restoration work had been done in Congress Hall by the Colonial Dames of America in 1896, their efforts were confined to the Senate chamber and to one of the committee rooms on the upper floor. Additional restoration of Congress Hall was not undertaken until the American Institute of Architects became interested in the matter. ”

“ Because their people stood behind them and fought for seven years to make the Declaration of Independence good, the signers have been remembered and honored by five generations of men, and Independence Hall is the shrine of America and the birthplace of democracy.
In this sacred place, under the shadow of a great tradition as Professor Masaryk expressed it, there met the delegates of twelve European and Asiatic nations to proclaim to the world that they, too, are independent. ”

“ Upon the south side of Chestnut Street, occupying the block between Fifth and Sixth Streets, is Independence Square, an open space of about four acres, tastefully laid out in flowers and lawns, with spacious and well-shaded walks. Upon the northern side of the square, and fronting Chestnut Street, is the most hallowed building of American patriotic memories, Independence Hall, a modest brick structure, yet the most interesting object Philadelphia contains. ”

“ When more placards calling for the defence of the State, were exhibited in the neighborhood of old Independence Hall, than had ever shown there, inviting the idle to amusement, in the most prosperous seasons of opera, theatre and concert-saloon—drums beating at every corner, brass bands blowing on every square, patriotic appeals and efforts to recruit on every hand, and yet the people apparently lying under bodily apathy or mental paralysis. ”

“ Independence Hall, built of plain brick and mortar, was deemed [Pg 88] sufficiently splendid for the accommodation of the master spirits of that eventful era. A plain yard, with native forest trees for an ornament, was satisfactory. Now nothing but a marble structure, surrounded by extensive highly ornamented pleasure grounds, at an expense of millions, will answer for the legislators of this anti-republican era. The dear people are no longer consulted relative to the expenses of our government—to pay is their only privilege. ”

“ I believe that the time will come when the historic bell which now rests in Independence Hall will again be sounded, and that by means of the telephone art, which to-day has received such distinguished recognition at your hands, it will proclaim liberty once more, but this time throughout the whole world unto all the inhabitants thereof. ”

“ In Philadelphia I sometimes watch the hurrying crowds of business men go scurrying underneath the shadow of Independence Hall. I wonder if these crowds are in any true sense aware of the important and heroic deeds that were accomplished in that building. ”

“ They're a liberal education in patriotism. The great hall upstairs is filled with five thousand people, suffocatin' from heat and smoke. Every man Jack of these five thousand knows that down in the basement there's a hundred cases of champagne and two hundred kegs of beer ready to flow when the signal is given. Yet that crowd stick to their seats without turnin' a hair while, for four solid hours, the Declaration of Independence is read, long-winded orators speak, and the glee dub sings itself hoarse. ”

“ June 2, 1753
Though not the largest nor yet the oldest, but to all Americans by far the most celebrated bell is the grand old “Liberty Bell,” whose tones on July 4, 1776, proclaimed the birthday of our Nation.
This historic bell was originally cast in London, in 1752, for the State House in Philadelphia. There it hung in the belfry of Independence Hall until July 8, 1835, when it cracked while tolling the news of the death of John Marshall, Chief Justice of the United States. ”

“ The human heart is with us: God is with us. We shall again be able not to declare that "all States as States are equal," nor yet that "all citizens as citizens are equal," but to renew the broader, better declaration, including both these and much more, "that all men are created equal." [Applause.]
This historic "Cradle of Liberty" yields to no building in America, save perhaps Independence Hall, in interest. Faneuil Hall, in Boston, was built in 1740, by Peter Faneuil, a wealthy merchant, and presented to the town for a town-hall and market uses, to which it has been devoted ever since. ”

“ On motion of Robert Morrissey (whose nephew John, late M. C. from New York, inherits his uncle’s statesmanlike and financial abilities) , a bell to proclaim liberty was purchased for the State-House steeple. They practised economy in those brave days, and bought a cracked one, because they got it at half price. It is still in Independence Hall, a monument of our veracity.
The world knows well what followed, and ’tis well for the world that it does. ”

“ The famous liberty bell still hangs in the corridor of Independence Hall, in Philadelphia, although it is proposed to take it to Chicago to exhibit during the Columbian Exposition. No proposition has ever been made to melt it and recast the metal into two smaller bells, as such a proceeding would justly be regarded as little short of sacrilege. ”

“ A gathering both important and unique was held in Independence Hall, Philadelphia, on the 12th of October. The occasion was the reunion of a committee which has undertaken to organize a Pan-Republic Congress and Human Freedom League, and to arrange an international meeting in connection with the anniversary ceremonies of 1892. The leaders of the movement claim that their ideas have been gradually disseminated through organized societies in all civilized countries. ”

“ Bulletin Building, Juniper and Filbert Streets, French; steel frame, faced with terra cotta; architect, Edgar V. Seeler. Curtis Publishing Company, Sixth and Walnut Streets, modern adaptation of Georgian; steel frame, faced with white marble and brick; built, 1910; architect, Edgar V. Seeler; faces Independence Square, and although thoroughly modern, harmonizes perfectly, both in color and design, with the historic Georgian group, of which Independence Hall is the center, and adds to the quiet colonial atmosphere of the Square; interior is excellently designed ”

“ The gift is offered in this town of Philadelphia where there exists a hall the very name of which is dear to every American and every French heart —the Hall of Independence — and at a gathering of a society founded “for promoting useful knowledge,” which has remained true to its principle, worthy of its founder, and which numbers many whose fame is equally great on both sides of the ocean. ”

“ The advantage of living in separate communities meantime had become so clearly evident that by the middle of the fifteenth century chamberdekyns were abolished. All students not living in a college were required to live in a hall. It was thus that the halls lost some of their democratic independence. At this period in their development they may be roughly compared to such modern American halls as Claverly at Harvard, where the residents govern their own affairs in the main, admitting newcomers only by vote, but are all alike subject to the authority of a resident university proctor. ”

“ Hall, but only tended to increase his exertions in the work of political regeneration. Over the people of his own district he exercised a judicious and unlimited influence. He also attended the patriot meetings held at Savannah, in July, 1774, and in January of the ensuing year, and contributed much to aid and strengthen his co-workers in the good cause, then but just commenced. His constituents became equally enthusiastic in favour of liberty, and indignant at British oppression, with himself. All the other colonies had united in the defence of their common country against the common enemy. ”

“ If wealth is power; if men are born equal and independent of each, other; and that equality [6] and independence are inalienable; if wealth is a power destroying that equality and independence; if it reduces the bulk of mankind under the subjection of the few; all those authors who have defended the inequality of property, not having considered wealth in that light, will by many be considered as having said nothing on the subject. What they have said is of something else, not of wealth, of which they had formed no just idea. ”

“ Look at the old colonies of the American continent. All have ended in conquering their independence. Let Spain not forget the lesson; let the government be just to the colonies that remain. Thus she will consolidate her dominion over people who only aspire to be good sons of a worthy mother, but who are not willing to live as slaves under the sceptre of a tyrant."
In 1868 the annual revenue exacted from Cuba by Spain was in the neighborhood of twenty-six million dollars; and plans were in progress by which even this great revenue was to be largely increased. ”

“ In a word, Blanco absolutely failed, as completely as had his predecessors, in quelling the rebellion.
The people of the United States were becoming more and more enraged at the atrocities committed at their very door, and more and more anxious that the Cubans should have the independence which they themselves had achieved. ”

“ Again, as has been said, Cuba felt the yoke of his despotism, all previous promises, when the aid of the island was to his advantage, being as completely ignored as if they had never been made.
In Spanish America, revolutionary movements had been begun some three years before, and after stubborn warfare, Buenos Ayres, Venezuela and Peru finally succeeded in obtaining complete independence from Spanish authority. ”

“ The Emperor, however, while studiously respecting the independence of the sovereign States of the Peninsula, was determined to preserve his own Italian kingdom. [909] The British government, wrote Palmerston in reply, holds that the stipulations of treaties must everywhere be observed, and that no changes in an agreement can properly be effected, except with the concurrence of all the Powers which are parties to it. But Her Majesty’s government, at the same time, is no less strongly of opinion that the right to carry out internal reforms is a right inherent to independent sovereignty. ”

“ Autonomy would mean that the Cuban people will make their own laws, appoint all their public officers, except the governor-general, and attend to the local affairs with entire independence, without, of course, interference by the metropolis. What then would be left to Spain, since between her and Cuba there is no commercial intercourse of any kind? ”

“ This is a Senate, a Senate of equals, of men of individual honor and personal character, and of absolute independence. We know no masters, we acknowledge no dictators. This is a hall for mutual consultation and discussion; not an arena for the exhibition of champions. ”

“ Meantime, the question of independence was still being agitated in Cuba.
General Jose de la Concha, in anticipation of a rising of the Creole population threatened to turn the island into an African dependency. He formed and drilled black troops, armed the native born Spaniards and disarmed the Cubans. Everything was got in readiness for a desperate defense. The Cuban junta in New York had enlisted a large body of men and had made ready for an invasion. ”

“ Where Nature's voice against the bondman's wrong
First found an earnest and indignant tongue;
Where Lay's bold message to the proud was borne;
And Keith's rebuke, and Franklin's manly scorn!
Fitting it is that here, where Freedom first
From her fair feet shook off the Old World's dust,
Spread her white pinions to our Western blast,
And her free tresses to our sunshine cast,
One Hall should rise redeemed from Slavery's ban,
One Temple sacred to the Rights of Man! ”

“ The society has grown in its twenty-one years of existence, from the three members in attendance at the first meeting to a present membership of eighty thousand. Who could have foreseen such a phenomena of patriotism? Hence the necessity for business offices in addition to a revolutionary memorial. Continental Hall is the trunk from which spring all branches of sentiment and of active work. It is built of white marble and in pure colonial type; it is situated in Washington, the nation's Capital, and is adjacent to the White House and the Washington Monument ”

“ Property, that sacred fabric of government, had been attacked and destroyed, law had been defied, and yet the City Hall, the sanctuary of American tradition, was turned over to the alien mob for a continuous series of mass meetings. All day long that edifice, hitherto chastely familiar with American doctrine alone, with patriotic oratory, with perorations that dwelt upon the wrongs and woes of Ireland—part of our national propaganda—all day long that edifice rang with strange, exotic speech, sometimes guttural, often musical, but always impassioned, weirdly cadenced and intoned. ”