Page 38 - July2011

144 THE NATIONAL BUTTon BULLETIN July 2011

Junior News by Nancy Kienitz, Junior Division Chair

LIBERTY-What does that word mean to you? Possibly,
your answer is freedom or security or rights. How did we
get the liberty we have now?
Webster's dictionary defines liberty as: "The quality or
state of being free: a) the power to do as one pleases;
b) freedom from physical restraint; c) freedom from arbi-
trary or despotic control; d) the positive enjoyment of
various social, political or economic rights and privileges;
e) the power of choice."
Symbols of America and its struggles for liberty are all
around us, and many of them are depicted on buttons.
The colonists were ruled by England on the other side of
the Atlantic Ocean. They yearned to be free of British domi-
nation, and finally had to fight for what they thought was
right. One of the oldest symbols of our country, the Liberty
Bell, was cast in 1752 with the lettering, "Proclaim LIBERTY
throughout the land unto all of the inhabitants thereof." It was
first located in the Pennsylvania State House in Philadelphia,
now renamed Independence Hall. The first time it cracked
was upon arrival when it was first rung. It has been recast at
least twice. Bells were rung to alert citizens to proclamations
or danger. There is a story that it was rung to proclaim the July
4th vote for independence. This is not true because no procla-
mation of the declaration was made that day. Bells were rung to
mark the reading of the Declaration of Independence on July 8,
1776. The Liberty Bell likely was rung on that day.
Another well known symbol is the Statue of Liberty, a gift
of friendship from France to the United States. Its construc-
tion began in 1875. It was completed in Paris in June 1884 and
presented to America on July, 4,1884. It was dismantled and
shipped to the U.S. in early 1885-350 individual pieces in
214 crates. Lettering on it reads, "The Statue of Liberty En-
lightening the World." She now stands on Ellis Island in the
Wa5hington Monument New York City harbor facing out to sea to greet the many