The idea for the statue was first conceived in 1865, at a small dinner part that was hosted by Edouard Rene Lefebvre de Laboulaye. Along with some friends, he discussed the closeness of America and France and how close the two nations were. The liberals views of that time were to establish a government very closely related to that of Americas consitution. Laboulaye then quoted, perhaps the entire reason for the construction of the S.o.L, that "Wouldn't it be wonderful if people in France gave the United States a great monument as a lasting memorial to independence and thereby showed that the French government was also dedicated to the idea of human liberty?" Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi was pres

The lottery was a huge success and raised ample amounts of money for the construction fo the statue. Prizes included a silver plate set worth 20,000 francs (about $20,000); jewelry fashioned from pearls and gems, worth 5,000 francs; plus two works by Bartholdi, a terra cotta copy of a statue honoring the military engineer the Marquis Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban, and a painting called The Wave. By the end of 1879, over 250,000 francs had been raised. Even though most people believed this was enough to complete the project, it wasn't.

Tragically, in 1883, Laboulaye died. He never would live to see his masterpiece completed. However, even though the statue was actually completed, the foundation and pedestal was far from completion in America. Many newspapers criticized the statue, especially how expensive it was. In the Congress, they attempted to raise $100,000 with a bill, but it was rejected heavily. Same thing in New York, when they tried to raise half that, but it was rejected by the governor. It seemed as if the project was doomed to failure, because American people outside of New York insisted that it was actually New York's statue, so that citizens would have to pay for it. However, Joeseph Pulitzer came up with a ploy to raise money and increase his own profits at the same time. He owned a newspaper called The World, and in it he asked for the people to donate money to the foundation and pedestal of the statue. The paper said they would print every single name of every contributor, no matter how small or large the donations were. It also criticized the rich people of America for not donating, thus making it popular amongst the lower, working class of people. The newspaper increased its popularity by about 50,000 copies, and set its goal at $100,000. Donations poured in from all over, from pennies to single dollars and up. On August 11, 1885 the goal was reached and even exceeded, with the number of donations topping 120,000.

In 1870 Bartholdi changed careers temporarily, becoming a major in the French army during the Franco-Prussian war. During this time Bartholdi gained a new sense of liberty, and afterwards, Laboulaye suggested to Bartholdi that he should travel to America. Another quote of this man set forth the motion that would create the Statue of Liberty...

So Bartholdi sailed to America with letters to some of the greatest men in the United States in hopes of building this monument. Before he landed however, he had already found a great spot for the construction of his dream. It was Bedloe's island, which was actually on national territory and therefore didn't belong to any one single state. It belonged to the government. Bartholdi called it the gateway

Some topics in this essay:
France United, Joeseph Pulitzer, Le Prestre, Statue Liberty, World Fair, Libertas Roman, Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi, Gauthier Company, Eiffel Tower, Third Republic, statue liberty, french government, dreamed enormous, bartholdi inspired, didn't matter, foundation pedestal, france united, statue idea, art form, project wasn't,