Statue of Liberty : history

Towering over New York City's Liberty Island at over 35 feet high, the Statue of Liberty is arguably the most iconic symbol in the United States of America. It also represents the values and beliefs of the nation. This article explores the origins of the Statue and how it came to be built in New York.

Origins of the Statue of Liberty

The idea
The idea behind the Statue of Liberty came into being in France, in 1865 - just after the United States of America had emerged from its bloody Civil War. French law professor Edouard Rene de Laboulaye, whilst hosting a dinner party, remarked to his guests that a statue in honour of the United States, (which had just abolished slavery following the civil war) would be a fitting symbol of France's friendship. The Architect
One of Laboulaye's guests was particularly inspired by the idea. Frederic Auguste Bartholdi, a young sculptor, began looking into the feasibility of the project. In 1871, Bartholdi toured the United States, attempting to drum up support for his project. Upon sailing into New York, he noticed the vacant space on Bedloe's Island. He felt this would be the ideal spot for the Statue, as all vessels entering into New York Harbour would sail past it. A site found, Bartholdi returned to France to design the Statue.

Creating the Statue of Liberty.

Design
Bartholdi settled on making the statue a mix of the image of 'Colombia'; a symbolic female figure of the United States' identity, and Libertas, the Roman goddess of freedom. He also decided that the statue would be holding aloft a torch, as a symbol of progress. It its other hand, it was to hold a tablet with the inscription '4th July 1776' in Roman numerals: the date of America's Declaration of Independence. Construction
The physical creation of the Statue of Liberty got underway in 1876, with Bartholdi and Mason Viollet-le-Duc initially focusing on the head and the right, torch bearing arm. By Laboulaye's death in 1883, the upper body had been fully completed. It was presented to US ambassador in Paris in 1884 and dismantled for shipment to New York in January 1885.

The Statue in America

Construction in New York
It took until April 1886 for the Statue's pedestal to be completed. By October of that year, 21 years after Laboulaye's initial vision, the Statue of Liberty was officially inaugurated. Parades were held and long speeches from French and American dignitaries were given to the crowd. Subsequent awards
In 1924 the Statue became a U.S National Monument, and it was then upgraded to a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1984.