Introduction

You are probably familiar with the Statue of Liberty, the enormous sculpture of a woman in flowing robes holding aloft a golden torch in New York Harbor. But do you know what she represents and how she came to  be? Well, it's a pretty interesting story and this book will tell you all about it.

The woman depicted in the statue is not a real person. She is the personification of an idea, which means that the idea is depicted as a person. The idea that she personifies is liberty, a word that means freedom. And freedom is the ability to live your life as you please. It is what America is all about.

As Americans we tend to take our freedom for granted, but the idea of freedom is a relatively new thing in human affairs. And even in the modern world, freedom is far from universal. Have you ever wondered how we got so lucky?

Let's begin with the history of the idea of freedom and then we'll take a look at how this glorious statue came to be.

The Ancient World

In the ancient world, there was no such thing as freedom. Most people were simple farmers, eking out a meager living from the land for themselves and their families. They lived their entire lives in the same place, never learned to read or write, and knew nothing of philosophy. The local king or prince or whatever he might be called ruled as he pleased, some benevolently and others brutally. Many people were enslaved and even those who were not had little or nothing to say in how things were done.

There were a few exceptions, though, most notably in the Greek city-state of Athens. Today, Athens is a huge metropolis and the capital of modern-day Greece, but in ancient times it was just a small town. For some reason, though, 

Athens became a center of learning, art, theater, mathematics, science, and philosophy. It was from Athens that we got the idea of democracy, which is a form of government in which the people get to choose their own leaders. Democracy is not the same thing as freedom, but if people are able to choose their leaders, they are likely to choose those who allow them to to live as they please. But even in Athens, most of the hard work was done by slaves. 

The idea of democracy began to spread in the ancient world and several other democracies were established. Unfortunately, though, every one of these early democracies eventually failed.

Another early democracy was established in Rome, a small city-state on the western coast of what is now modern-day Italy. Early Rome was a democratic republic, governed by the Roman Senate. Then Rome became a local military power, conquering most of the surrounding towns and, over the course of several centuries, built one of the greatest and longest-lasting empires of all time. The Roman Empire was a great success as an empire, but the republic was lost, replaced by a long string of powerful emperors. 

Julius Caesar seized power in Rome in 49 BC and, as "dictator for life", set in motion the events that led to the demise of the Roman Republic.

The Middle Ages

Following the fall of the Roman Empire around 395 AD, the Middle Ages began in Europe. There was chaos at first, but local strongmen quickly came to power, declaring that they were entitled to rule by the divine right of kings. During this period, which lasted for roughly a thousand years, most of the learning of the ancient world was forgotten, science and the arts were put on hold, and ignorance reigned.

Only two things held Europe together during this period, the Catholic Church and Latin, the language of both the old Roman Empire and of the Catholic Church. Latin and Christianity had both been spread throughout Europe by the Roman Empire and they were just about all that was left of it.

Often romanticized as an age of kings and castles and knights in shining armor, this period was in reality an age of poverty and famine and pestilence and war.

The Age of Enlightenment

Then, slowly at first, Europe began to awaken from its long slumber. The Renaissance, a word meaning rebirth, began in Florence, Italy in the early 1400s and spread throughout Europe by the end of the 1500s. It was not just a rebirth of classical knowledge, though. It was also a new birth of the arts and sciences and the spirit of discovery.  In 1439, Johannes Gutenberg invented a printing press that used movable type, making it possible to spread these new ideas far and wide. In 1492, Christopher Columbus discovered a whole New World previously unknown to Europeans. And Martin Luther started the Protestant Reformation in Germany in 1517, challenging the authority of the Catholic Church by posting his 95 Theses on the door of his church.  Excitement was in the air!

Martin Luther's 95 Theses                                    Columbus discovers a New World

Michelangelo's Pieta                                                  Gutenberg's printing press

These developments set the stage for what has become known as the Age of Enlightenment. Sweeping through Western Europe in the 1600s and 1700s, it was a revolution in philosophical thought that led to the birth of individual freedom as we know it today. 

Of particular interest to our story are the ideas of the British philosopher John Locke (1632-1704). Locke believed in natural rights and promoted the ideas of religious liberty  (the separation of church and state), the social contract  (the idea that governments derive their legitimacy from the consent of the governed), and that governments exist solely to protect the "life, liberty and property" of the people. These were considered to be very radical ideas in a time of absolute monarchy and, sadly, still are in many parts of the world.   

John Locke

Colonialism and Slavery

The discovery of the Americas started a race by the sea-faring nations of Europe to claim lands and establish colonies to exploit the riches of this New World. The Spanish came first and claimed the most land, including the islands of the Caribbean, most of South America, all of Central America, and a good portion of the southern and western parts of North America. The Portuguese claimed the Amazon River basin. The French claimed much of what is now eastern Canada and the Great Lakes as well as the Mississippi River basin. The British claimed the eastern coast of what is now the United States and eventually seized the French holdings in Canada as well. These countries  and a few others were assembling vast empires, not just in the New World, but also in Africa and Asia. 

Slavery had been present all throughout history in all parts the world. With no appreciation of individual freedom, it was just taken for granted. Of course, no one wanted to actually be a slave, but that didn't stop them from enslaving others. 

With the development of global empires, trade in the riches of faraway colonies became commonplace. The new colonies in North and South America needed workers to extract those riches, so a slave trade began to develop between Africa and the Americas. Many shiploads of captured Africans were brought against their will to the North and South American colonies, where they were sold into slavery to work in the mines and the fields of the New World. This was in direct conflict with the new ideas sweeping through Europe during the Age of Enlightenment, and it was just a matter of time before it would all come to a head.

Far away from the rule of the king, the people living in the British colonies on the coast of North America became very independent and learned to  govern their own affairs.  The ideas of John Locke were well-known and fit easily into their world. They became champions of individual freedom and self-government and chafed under the heavy taxes and harsh dictates of what many were beginning to think of as a foreign king. 

In 1775, American colonists in the Massachusetts towns of Lexington and Concord took up arms against British soldiers, firing "the shot heard round the world" that marked the beginning of the American Revolution. On July 4, 1776, representatives from all of the thirteen colonies gathered in Philadelphia to boldly declare their independence from British rule. At that point, there was no turning back.

The ideas of John Locke figured prominently in the Declaration of Independence, most notably in this sentence: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

This was precisely what Locke had meant by natural rights. Notice, though, that Locke's phrase "life, liberty and property" had been changed to "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." This was done for good reason. Slaves were considered property at the time and many of the framers of this document did not want it to appear that they were endorsing it, even though slavery was still practiced in many of the colonies. The more important phrase, of course, was that "all men are created equal." And with that, the stage was set for the American Revolution.

To make a long story short, the American revolutionaries won the war and formed the United States of America. It is worth mentioning here that the French were very helpful to the American cause. And in 1789, inspired in part by the American Revolution, the French revolted against their own king. Unfortunately, the French Revolution ended very badly, with a long reign of terror followed by the rise of Napoleon as emperor. But for many in France, there remained a great admiration for the ideals of the American Revolution.

Before we move on to the next section, it should be noted that the American Civil War (1861-1865) finally brought an end to slavery in the United States. And one Frenchman in particular was so impressed with that development that he wanted to show his appreciation with a gift to the American people.

General Robert E. Lee (left) surrenders to General Ulysses S. Grant (right) to end the Civil War in 1865

Edouard Laboulaye

Edouard Rene de Laboulaye (1811-1883) was a French politician and anti-slavery activist. In 1865, at the end of the American Civil War, he became the President of the French Emancipation Committee, which was set up to help the freed slaves in America. The following year, he came up with the idea for a statue to commemorate their freedom. And he knew just the man for the job.

Frederic Bartholdi

Frederic Auguste Bartholdi (1834-1904) was a French sculptor and a friend of Laboulaye, who asked if he would be interested in such a project. He said yes, so the two men sat down together to design the statue and work out all the details. They came up with a plan for a monumental - and very expensive - project. And, to their credit, they saw it through to the end.

As it turned out, Bartholdi had already designed a similar statue for the northern entrance to the Suez Canal in Egypt. It was to serve as a grand lighthouse and was to be called "Egypt Carrying the Light into Asia". The plan was rejected because of the immense cost, but, as you can see in the picture above, it would have been a very impressive sight. Bartholdi felt that he could reuse the basic design, with a few minor changes, for the new statue, which would be situated on a small island in New York Harbor. And it would be at that time the largest statue in the world.

The statue's female figure was to be a depiction of Libertas, the Roman goddess of freedom, who was worshipped by Roman slaves. For them, freedom meant simply a release from bondage. The image of Libertas has appeared in statuary and on many coins, both ancient and modern, including this Roman coin (above) and this 1945 US half dollar (below). 

Gustave Eiffel

Gustave Eiffel (1832-1923) was a French architect and structural engineer, made famous later for his design of the Eiffel Tower, which was built for the 1889 Universal Exposition in Paris.  

Because of the immense size of Barthodi's statue and its siting in New York Harbor, it would be exposed to high winds. Because of this, it would have to be both rigid and flexible. 

To achieve the desired result, Eiffel would design and build a rigid iron frame, upon which would be draped a copper skin that would be attached in such a way that it could flex in the wind. Bartholdi would design the copper skin in the sculptural forms that would be become the Statue of Liberty.

These renderings show some of the internal structure of the statue designed by Gustave Eiffel. There are stairs leading up to the crown and even up through the arm to the torch.

Acquiring the Site

On a visit to New York, Bartholdi spotted an island in New York Harbor that he believed would be perfect for the statue. It was called Bedloe's Island and it was being used as an army base at the time. As you can see by this modern-day photo, it is impossible to reach New York City by ship without sailing right past this island. And right behind this island is Ellis Island, which we will talk about later.

During that visit to the United States, Bartholdi met with a number of prominent Americans, including President Ulysses S. Grant, who assured him that it would not be difficult to obtain Bedloe's Island for his statue. It belonged to the federal government and had been used for harbor defense in the early days of the republic. There was an old eleven-point star fort and a few other buildings on the property, but they were obsolete. 

Bartholdi crossed the country twice by rail, trying to gather support for his project, but returned to France feeling that there was not enough interest in America at that time to pursue it any further. The same was true in France, so he and Laboulaye decided to wait a bit longer before mounting a public campaign for the project.  

That was not the first setback for the project. It had been delayed earlier by the Franco-Prussian War in Europe, when Bartholdi had served as a major in the French militia. And, after the war, he pursued a number of other large sculptural projects. But eventually things got back on track, and on his last full day in office, President Grant signed a resolution authorizing the US President to select a site for the statue and to accept it upon its presentation to the United States. The date was March 3, 1877.

President Ulysses S. Grant

President Rutherford B. Hayes, who took office the following day, then selected Bedloe's Island as the official site of the statue. 

However, it would still be several years before the statue would be completed. By the time it was, Grant would already be dead and Hayes would be retired. Sadly, even Laboulaye would not live to see the official unveiling of his creation.

President Rutherford B. Hayes

Raising the Funds

Laboulaye believed right from the start that the statue should be a joint project by both the French and the American people and that the funds should come from the people of both nations in the form of small donations. The French people would be asked to pay for the construction of the statue itself and the American people would be asked to provide the site and pay for the construction of the pedestal. 

When Bartholdi completed his work on the head as well as the arm and torch, they were displayed in both countries to help build enthusiasm for the project. The French people responded well, but the American people did not at first because they did not really have a good sense of what they were being asked to support. 

Paris World Fair (1878)      Philadelphia Centennial Exposition (1876)      Publisher Joseph Pulitzer

At one point, work on the pedestal was threatened for lack of funds. That's when Joseph Pulitzer, the publisher of a newspaper called the New York World, started a drive that raised enough funds to complete the pedestal.