The Statue of Liberty was a gift to the people of the United States by the people of France.
As a symbol of friendship between the two nations, the statue also commemorated the 100th anniversary of American independence. There are two other Statue of Liberties which reside in Swan Ally Island and the Luxembourg Gardens in Paris.
The architect and designer of the Statue of Liberty was Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi, who was born in Colmar, France, in 1834. The design of the statue’s pedestal was designed by Richard Morris Hunt, who was an American architect.
Building of the Statue of Liberty started in 1875, and the cost of the project was shared between France and America as it was soon realized that it would be extremely expensive. Elaborate fund-raising events were held by the Franco-American Union, but they were not very successful.
More funds were needed to complete the building of the statue and fund-raising continued to be a problem. In France, a large lottery was held and clay models of the Statue were sold. In America, Joseph Pulitzer, the owner of the newspaper “The World” used the power of the press to bring America together and raised more than $100,000 for the project. If it weren’t for these significant contributions, the Statue of Liberty might not have been built.
Construction of the Statue of Liberty was finally complete in 1884 and was dismantled and shipped to Bedloe’s Island, New York, where it arrived in 1885 inside 214 wooden packing crates. Reassembly and construction of the pedestal took six months, and the Statue was finally unveiled on October 28, 1886. Those who attended included President Grover Cleveland, the governor of New York, and the French Ambassador.
When the Statue of Liberty was built, it was the tallest structure in New York, at 305 feet. Its green color is actually due to the tarnishing of the copper sheets covering the statue’s frame. Today, the Statue of Liberty symbolizes the concept of personal freedom and has become a timeless American icon and visual center of New York Harbor.
many people who have come to this country know what the statue smybolizes…FREEDOM
i thank that is sweet that thay would give us a present so big that it is one of the main things we are know for.
The statue of liberty is rubish people are making up this big thing that the statue of liberty dissapered one night Its rubbish.Why did te french people give the statue of liberty to the Americans they shouldnt of gave it to us english people we disurve it what did the American people do for us that’s why I hate French
The statue suppose to represent freedom does it really. We as a people should remember that we all pay a great price today and always to be free. What about the bill that arizona is trying to pass about immagration. Be for real. I would hate to live in a state like that. That is not freedom or is it.
wats the point in making a building i mean like wow thats impressive it took ages to build now it is just gonna sit there and look pretty woop ti do wat a waste of a lifetime they could have been making medicene or something in that time or even make i pods but no alwell
It never ceases to amaze me, that Americans can be so ignorant about things the rest of the western world take for granted. Read all these comments here, they are all so childishly conceived and spelled. You all seem to think that if the government and Fox say you are free then it must be true. You must be the most naive nation on earth. The Roman Senate gave the Plebs bread and circuses. You get MTV and pizza.
Wow you dont know much about the Statue of Liberty then. It was given to us because France helped libertate America from England. The Statue of Liberty celebrates freedom from England. France helped us become a country, and we have been allied to them for a very long time, longer than England has, and so next time you judge another country think twice because you obvoiusly don’t know what you are talking about. If you hate other countrys just because you think your counrty deserves a gift more then another country is really dumb.
The Statue of Liberty was originally copper, not white stone
You cant judge America by a few people. I’m sure your country isn’t perfect either. Just because kids doing reports on The Statue of Liberty and they write silly comments on here dosen’t mean that every child in America is like that. True, we may be more spoiled than other countrys, but some of us do appreciate things like the Statue of Liberty
i love horses! my parents don’t let me ride though cause they don’t think it’s physical enough to keep me from not being fat but it’s considered the third most dangerous sport in the world, and that is wicked awesome man…peace ya’ll, over and out…for now
It turned green because it is copper and copper turns green when it rusts