What’s Going On Here?

Hints

1. The United States had reason to celebrate in the late 1860s. Its 100th birthday was approaching, and the Civil War (1861-1865)—and slavery—had just ended.

2. France, a close U.S. ally, decided to send a monumental gift to represent the ideals of freedom and equality that the U.S. was founded on. Construction got underway in 1876. 

3. Nearly a decade later, France shipped the gift to the U.S. in pieces—including the one shown here. The destination was New York Harbor.

Can you put a name to the face? It’s the Statue of Liberty! The idea for the iconic American statue was first put forth in 1865 by French citizen Édouard de Laboulaye. He was a well-known law expert, an anti-slavery activist, and supporter of the United States.

Sculptor Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi, who shared de Laboulaye’s admiration for the U.S., began designing the statue in Paris, France, in 1876. It took workers nine years to build.

Officially named Liberty Enlightening the World, the statue depicts the Roman goddess Libertas. Wearing a robe and a crown, she holds a torch in one hand and a tablet in the other. The tablet is inscribed with July 4, 1776, the date when the U.S. issued the Declaration of Independence. At the statue’s feet, Bartholdi placed a broken shackle and chains to symbolize the end of slavery, which was abolished in the U.S. in 1865 under the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

But to get the 151-foot-tall statue to the U.S., workers had to take it apart. Its 350 pieces were packed into crates and shipped across the Atlantic Ocean. The pieces arrived in New York Harbor in June 1885, where they were unpacked on what is now Liberty Island. They sat for about a year, while U.S. workers finished constructing the giant pedestal that would hold the statue.

Finally, in April 1886, the pedestal was completed and the Statue of Liberty was reassembled on top. About six months later, U.S. President Grover Cleveland unveiled the finished monument in front of thousands of spectators.

In the decades to follow, millions of immigrants came to the U.S. in search of a better life, often by ship through New York Harbor. The Statue of Liberty was one of the first U.S. landmarks they saw. Then and now, it serves as a beacon of hope and opportunity to many.

 —Brooke Ross