We Are The World

On July 19, 1848, the first women's rights convention in the U.S. was held at Seneca Falls, NY, led primarily by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott. They actually drafted a "Declaration of Rights and Sentiments" that was modeled on the country's Declaration of Independence. The idea of a women's convention was spawned after women had been speaking out against slavery for over a decade and realized they had no public forum, they always had to be curtained off and sit quietly during political conventions. So they met today in 1848 to create forums to discuss their political viewpoints.
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67 years later, in 1915, the Women's Suffrage Movement introduced a replica of the Liberty Bell and called it the Women's Liberty Bell. They carted that thing all over Pennsylvania while campaigning for the right to vote, which was, again, not granted.

"The original Liberty Bell announced the creation of democracy; the Women's Liberty Bell will announce the completion of democracy."
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Women didn't gain the right to vote until 1920.

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72 years prior to the women's first convention, on July 8, 1776, the Liberty Bell rang for the first time from atop the Pennsylvania State House (now Independence Hall) as it summoned all good people to come hear the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence.
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233 years later, July 12, 2009, while my daughter was turning 18, we took a trip to see the Liberty Bell, sans said daughter who was doing things an 18 year old would prefer to do. The 2,000 pound bell bears an inscription from the Bible, "Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof." The Bible. Interesting.
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The bell cracked a few times, was melted down and recast, then cracked a few more times and finally in 1846 when they rang it for Washington's birthday, it cracked completely and was rendered unusable, although, on special occasions, it is sometimes gently tapped. {ahem}
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Who knew July was so full of history? OK, maybe if I'd paid attention in history class . . .
But I did pay attention when Taco Bell purchased it and renamed it the Taco Liberty Bell. That sure was a pip.
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And now... as Benjamin Franklin said so many years ago,
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"The bell rings and I must go among the Grave ones and talk politics."