Statue of Liberty Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Statue of Liberty - Essay Example The statue entitled "Liberty Enlightens the World" was shipped to America in 214 separate crates in 1886 and re-assembled on tiny Bedloe Island, which was soon renamed Liberty Island. (Schamel 299-302) For more than a century, the Statue f Liberty has stood as a symbol f the American ideals f freedom, equality, and opportunity, and has greeted millions f immigrants at the entrance to New York Harbor. Given by the people f France to the people f the United States to commemorate the friendship between the two countries during the American Revolution, the 151-foot-tall statue was shipped in pieces from France and assembled and dedicated in 1876. Over the years, world events have added new layers f meaning to the statue as a symbol. During two World Wars, it endured as a reminder f the sacrifices involved in maintaining freedom, and in 1989, Chinese students constructed a plaster "Goddess f Democracy" inspired by the Statue f Liberty during political protests in Beijing's Tiananmen Square. (Bender 60-62) The idea for a monument to commemorate the achievement f America's independence originated with the French scholar and abolitionist, Edouard de Laboulaye, in 1865. French intellectuals admired America's democratic ideals and its recent defeat f slavery, and aspired to create a French republican government modeled on the American constitution to replace the empire f Napoleon III. De Laboulaye suggested to F.A. Bartholdi, a 31-year old sculptor, that he travel to America to explore the possibility f a monument to French-American friendship. Bartholdi's vision for the Statue f Liberty solidified when he first saw New York Harbor. The tallest structure in the New York metropolitan area when it was dedicated, the Statue f Liberty rests on a granite and concrete pedestal to rise to a total height f over 300 feet. The statue's uplifted right arm raises a torch which is lit at night, and her left hand holds a tablet bearing the date "July 4, 1776." A broken shackle lies in front f her right foot as she strides forward, although it is difficult for visitors to see from the ground. A plaque with the words f a sonnet by Emma Lazarus titled "The New Colossus" was added to an interior wall f the pedestal in 1903. Lazarus had written the poem in 1883 to assist in fundraising for the pedestal, and her words, "...Give me your tired, your poor,/Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free/The wretched refuse f your teeming shore./Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,/I lift my lamp beside the golden door!" have become inextricably linked with the Statue f Liberty. Body- Case study presentation and analysis Design and Construction The statue is constructed f copper sheets hand-hammered onto wooden molds, but over the years the originally shiny copper has acquired a light-green hue. The engineer Gustave Eiffel, who later built the Eiffel Tower, designed the iron framework supporting the statue. Each section f the framework, and the copper sheets covering it, is attached separately to the central tower, enabling the sheets to move independently in varying weather and temperatures. (Hansen 34-35) Funds to build and transport the statue to the United States were raised entirely by the French people, not by the French government. An organization, the Franco-American Union, was formed in 1875 to raise money and