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She represents the
United States
But the world-famous Statue of Liberty
standing in New York Harbor was built in France. The statue was
presented to the U.S., taken apart, shipped across the Atlantic
Ocean in crates, and rebuilt in the U. S. It was France’s gift to
the American people.
It all started at dinner one night
near Paris in 1865. A group of Frenchmen were discussing their
dictator-like emperor and the democratic government of the U.S. They
decided to build a monument to American freedom—and perhaps even
strengthen French demands for democracy in their own country.
At that dinner was the sculptor
Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi (bar-TOLE-dee). He imagined a statue of a
woman holding a torch burning with the light of freedom.
Turning Bartholdi’s idea into reality
took 21 years. French supporters raised money to build the statue,
and Americans paid for the pedestal it would stand on. Finally, in
1886, the statue was dedicated.

Click on the
statue of Liberty to learn more. |