THE STATUE OF LIBERTY:
MEANING OF THE STATUE OF LIBERTY

The statue of Liberty is national monument given to the United States by France in recognition of the friendship established during the American Revolution. Being among the best-known monuments in the world, it attracts between three to four million people each year. The Statue of Liberty has been a tourist destination and played many other roles in its 124-year history. Representing a woman holding aloft a torch, it stands at the entrance to New York harbor on a 12-acre land known as Bedloe’s or Liberty Island. The Statue of Liberty symbolizes freedom throughout the world, democracy as well as international friendship. As a result, many immigrants’ hearts warmed up as they …show more content…

The Americans ought to have learnt a great lesson from this.

In January 1877, the American Committee for the construction of the pedestal was formed. With a membership of 114 at first, it soon grew to include more than 400 prominent men. William M. Evarts was elected chairperson, Henry F. Spaulding, treasurer, and Richard Butler, secretary. While the public contributed to the delay of the project completion, the U.S. Congress also voted down a fresh attempt to provide $100,000 toward the cost of the pedestal. The voting down outraged Joseph Pulitzer a publisher of the New York World, that he launched a campaign in the pages of his newspaper to raise the money.

When it appeared that New York was coming up empty-handed, Boston, Cleveland, Philadelphia, and San Francisco began to compete to have the Statue of Liberty built in their cities. By this time, Pulitzer appealed to more people to take ownership of the monument by contributing more funds towards the completion of the pedestal. As soon as Americans learnt that France had completed the construction of the statue, the race to fund the pedestal had captivated the entire country, and money really began to pour in. People sent in pennies, nickels, dimes and began buying copies of the World each day to keep track of the race. The Americans raised funds by theatrical events, art exhibitions, auctions and prizefights. Finally, on August 11 1886, the goal for the fund was met and the