Statue Of Liberty

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The Construction of the Statue of Liberty

The construction of the Statue of Liberty began in France in 1875 by sculptor Auguste Bartholdi. He was commissioned to design a sculpture that would be completed by 1876. It was not finished until June of 1885.The Statue was a joint effort between America and France. The American people were to build the pedestal, and the French people were responsible to build the Statue. It was to be assembled in the United States. (Pickin, 208)
Lack of funds became a problem for both America and France. The French used public fees and various forms of entertainment. Gounod, the famous composer, wrote a song to the statue which he presented at the Paris Opera. In the spring of 1878 a lottery was organized to help with the funds. There was a law in France that permitted lotteries for charitable and artistic causes. The Statue of Liberty qualified under both of these. It was soon discovered that the statue would cost much more than they first thought. The final cost of approximately $250,000 was completely contributed by the French people. The French government did not have to aid in the construction of the statue.
In America, the proposal to construct the statue reached the United States even before the Franco-American Union issued its appeal for funds in 1875.A committee was appointed in September 1876 to secure funds for the pedestal. The committee was appointed by the famous Union League Club in New York. John Jay served as the chairman. A similar committee was established in Philadelphia.
The United States held theatrical events, art exhibitions, auctions and prize fights to assist in providing the needed funds. The fund raising was going very slowly, so Joseph Pulitzer who is noted for the Pulitzer Prize, used his newspaper, “The World” to help the fund raising effort. Pulitzer publicly criticized the rich for failing to finance the pedestal construction and he
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criticized the middle...