The Statue of Liberty Deed of Presentation

For more than a century, shipborne millions entering the Verrazano Narrows of New York Harbor have strained for a first glimpse of the Statue of Liberty. Others have seen its image and longed to stand before it in the "Land of Liberty." Many immigrants who came to the United States between 1890 and the early part of the 20th century begin accounts of their arrival with "When I first saw the Statue of Liberty . . . ." For those who have seen her colossal form glinting green against an azure sky, she evokes an emotional response—not so much for what she is, but for what she represents.

The statue was given to the United States by the people of France as a symbol of Franco-American friendship forged during the American Revolution. The design of the statue, a robed woman holding a torch aloft, is a long-standing symbol of freedom from tyranny. Over time, the Statue of Liberty has become closely associated with immigrants seeking freedom and opportunity in the United States.

Edouard René Lefebvre de Laboulaye, French jurist, admirer of republicanism, and an authority on the United States, chafed under the repressive regime of Napoleon III and saw in the United States a balance between liberty and stability that eluded France. He envisioned a monument that would keep alive the republican ideal in France yet reside in the United States, because he believed that a strong symbol of liberty in France would not be tolerated by the emperor.

During a dinner party at his estate near Versailles in 1865, Laboulaye suggested to his guests that a monument to liberty be presented by the people of France to the people of the United States to commemorate the centennial of that country’s independence 11 years later. The gift, Laboulaye

believed, would become a memorial to the friendship between the two republics. Present at the dinner party was sculptor Frederic Auguste Bartholdi, who was intrigued by the idea.

THE ARTIST’S VISION

Bartholdi created statues of immense size. In 1856 he visited the Sphinx and pyramids and confirmed his desire to create works on a colossal scale. When he returned to Egypt in 1869 to attend the opening of the Suez Canal, he failed to persuade the Egyptian ruler Ismail Pasha to commission a monument that would stand alongside the canal. Bartholdi envisioned a colossal peasant woman, twice the size of the Sphinx, veiled and garbed in the traditional flowing robe, holding a torch aloft. She would represent "Progress," or "Egypt Carrying the Light to Asia." Positioned at the canal entrance, the statue would have served as both monument and lighthouse. Although rebuffed in Egypt, Bartholdi presented the idea to Laboulaye as the fulfillment of his dinner party proposal.

Laboulaye proved receptive to Bartholdi’s idea and suggested that Bartholdi visit the United States to present the project to friends and officials. When he entered New York Harbor in June 1871, the sculptor found the perfect spot for his statue: Bedloe’s Island. As a major port of entry to the United States, the site held strong symbolic value.

Bartholdi spoke to President Ulysses S. Grant, who was not interested. Massachusetts Senator Charles Summer promised support, however, as did members of the New York French-American Society. Bartholdi presented his vision of a gigantic statue, financed by the French, that he called"Liberty Enlightening the World." He argued, "Colossal statuary does not consist simply in making an enormous statue. It ought to produce an emotion in the breast of the spectator, not because of its volume, but because its size is in keeping with the idea that it interprets, and with the place which it ought to occupy."

When Bartholdi began fabricating the statue in 1875, he enlisted the aid of Alexandre-Gustave Eiffel, who created a central wrought-iron pylon for the structure. This pylon supported a secondary framework to which the statue’s hammered copper skin was attached with flexible iron bars. This ingenious design allowed the skin to "breathe," making it strong enough to withstand high winds, yet resilient enough to expand and contract with temperature changes.

CONGRESS ACCEPTS THE GIFT

In 1877, the U.S. Congress accepted the proposed French gift through a joint resolution. The resolution noted that in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of U.S. independence, the statue would be erected at the expense of the people of France (some $400,000 was donated by French cities, corporations, and private citizens) and would be placed "upon a pedestal of suitable proportions to be built by [U.S.] private subscription." Although too late for the centennial, the resolution directed the President "to accept the colossal statue of ’Liberty enlightening the world’ when presented by citizens of the French Republic, and to designate . . . for the erection thereof, a suitable site upon either Governors or Bedloes Island, in the harbor of New York." It also authorized the President "to cause suitable regulations to be made for its future maintenance as a beacon, and for the permanent care and preservation thereof as a monument of art, and of the continued good will of the great nation, which aided us in our struggle for freedom."

The statue was completed and displayed in Paris in 1884, where Victor Hugo, saddened by the state of the French political system, saw the statue and uttered, "The idea. It is everything." Work on the pedestal stalled for lack of funds and remained incomplete until 1885, when New York newspaper publisher Joseph Pulitzer launched a public subscription campaign that raised the final $100,000 from more than 120,000 individual donors.

On May 21, 1885, the 151-foot, 450,000-pound statue was shipped to the United States in 210 crates-36 for nuts, bolts, and rivets. En route, a violent storm tossed the ship for 72 hours, but the cargo arrived intact. At last in place on Bedloe’s Island, the statute was dedicated by President Grower Cleveland on October 28, 1886.

The Statue of Liberty possesses deep symbolic value for many immigrants who revere it. It also causes deep-seated emotions of a different nature among many Native Americans, African Americans, and others who consider the statue a hypocritical tribute to liberty. In addition, since the beginning of the 20th century, the Statue of Liberty has become the chief symbol of the United States.

FROM CULTURAL ICON TO CONTROVERSY

The Statue of Liberty, built by French workers in Paris and erected upon a pedestal fashioned by Italian immigrant stonemasons, holds great symbolic value today. Indeed, some immigrants claim that the statue is appreciated more by those who have not always lived free than by freeborn U.S. citizens. Poet Emma Lazarus paid tribute to immigrants in the sonnet, "The New Colossus," which she penned as part of the pedestal fund drive. In that poem, which was inscribed in 1903 on a bronze plaque and placed in the pedestal, she vividly recalls how the sight of Jewish refugees arriving in New York from czarist Russia affected her. Lazarus saw in the statue not only a magnificent tribute to liberty, but also an embodiment of the "Mother of Exiles," who welcomes "your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free."

For many, the statue holds little or no meaning. For example, noted African American author James Baldwin, interviewed in the 1985 Ken Burns film The Statue of Liberty, stated, "For a black American, the Statue of Liberty is simply avery bitter joke, meaning nothing to us." The statue has been the focus of many civil rights demonstrations, both peaceful and not so peaceful. Would-be bombers plotted in 1965 to make a forceful statement about discrimination against black people in the United States. After placing dynamite in her arm, the conspirators planned to decapitate and amputate, as they put it, the "damned old bitch." The plot was uncovered before any damage was done.

Through two world wars, when its image was used to arouse support for liberty bond drives, the Statue of Liberty became a cultural icon. Its image is used by advertisers who seek to portray their products as "all-American." From Vietnam Veterans Against the War to radical student groups, from newly naturalized citizens to longtime citizens of the United States, the Statue of Liberty does "produce an emotion in the breast of the spectator," as Bartholdi hoped. What does she symbolize for you and your students?

DEED OF PRESENTATION

The document featured here is the deed of presentation of the Statue of Liberty from the French people. It is found in the General Records of the Department of State, Record Group 59, Entry 820, "miscellaneous manuscripts." The oversized original is beautifully watercolored. Translated, it reads as follows:

[on ribbon] To the time-honored friendship of France and the United States

The fourth of July, the year one thousand eight hundred eighty-four, anniversary day of the Independence of the United States. In the presence of Monsieur Jules Ferry, President of the Council of Ministers, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Monsieur Ferdinand de Lesseps, in the name of the Committee of the Franco-American Union and of the national demonstration of which the Committee is the voice, presented the colossal statue of "Liberty Enlightening the World," work of sculptor A. Bartholdi, to his Excellency Monsieur Morton Minister Plenipotentiary of the United States in Paris in requesting him to be the bearer of the sentiments of which this work is the expression.

Monsieur Morton, in the name of his fellow countrymen, thanks the Franco-American Union for this evidence of goodwill of the French people; he proclaims that in virtue of the powers conferred upon him by the President of the United States and the Committee for the work in America represented by its honorable President Mr. William M. Evarts, he accepts the statue and that it will be erected by the American people, conforming to the vote of Congress of 22 February 1877, in the harbor of New-York in remembrance of the time-honored friendship that unites the two nations. In faith of which have signed: In the name of France, Jules Brisson, President of the Chamber Jules Ferry, Minister of Foreign Affairs In the name of the United States, Levi P Morton, Minister of the United States In the name of the Committee of the Franco-American Union, Ferdinand De Lesseps E. De Lafayette

TEACHING ACTIVITIES

Document Analysis

1. Ask a French-speaking student, a French teacher, or any person who can speak French to help the class translate the document. Then ask your students the following questions:

a. What is the date of the document?
b. Who created the document?
c. Who received the document?
d. To whom was the statue presented?
e. According to this document, why was the statue given?

Class Discussion

2. It has been said that the Statue of Liberty is the first monument to an idea rather than to a person or an event.

a. Discuss with your students the concept of monuments. Include questions such as: What or who is worthy of a monument today? What form can the monument take? Where can monuments be located?

b. After the discussion, ask your students about monuments or memorials in yourcommunity. Who or what is memorialized? Why? Who, if anyone, is maintaining the site?

c. Select several students to investigate and present oral reports on local individuals who have been memorialized by having public buildings named after them.

3. Ask students to look at a map of New York Harbor and analyze why Bedloe’s Island was selected as the Statue of Liberty site. What other sites may have been appropriate locations for the statue in 1884 or today?

4. Ask students to describe their reactions to viewing the statue in person for the first time If they have not seen it, ask them to describe the first encounter of a parent, relative, or neighbor.

5. Ask students to reflect upon and discuss what the Statue of Liberty symbolizes. Discuss with students the meanings of "liberty."

Writing Activities

6. Ask volunteers to investigate and prepare reports on one of the following topics related to the statue: its use in advertising or in the media today; anecdotes or events such as its erection in Paris, use of the arm and torch in the United States as a fund-raiser prop to attract donations for the pedestal, and the unveiling ceremony, complete with a French flag shrouding the face (a face reputedly modeled after Bartholdi’s mother); centennial celebrations; renovation required after withstanding a century of wind, air, rain, and pollution; Eiffel’s engineering of the superstructure, which presaged the skyscraper; or the history of Bedloe’s Island.

7. Provide students with a copy of Emma Lazarus’s sonnet "The New Colossus." After analyzing its meaning, ask them to compose a sonnet expressing a message to immigrants today. As a contrast to the immigrant imagery, ask your students to write a sonnet expressing the viewpoint of a disaffected group that has staged a protest at the Statue of Liberty.

Design Activities

8. Describe and analyze the design elements of the statue (e.g., the torch, the upraised arm, the broken chain at its feet, the tablet inscribed July 4, 1776, in Roman numerals). Ask students to consider what elements would be included in a monument to liberty today and to draw or model a design. Ask them where they would locate their monuments.

9. Ask your students to choose a person, event, or thing to memorialize and to design an appropriate monument. The design should be accompanied by an explanatory statement about the form of the monument (e.g., statue, granite block, or garden) and the monument site.

Research Activities

10. Assign students to conduct a poll of neighbors or shopping mall visitors to collect data on public opinion about the Statue of Liberty. They should ask questions such as the following: What is the Statue of Liberty, and where is it located? What does the Statue of Liberty mean to you and why? What does the Statue of Liberty symbolize? Using the data collected, conduct a class discussion to determine public opinion about the statue. Students may wish to share the results with a local newspaper or television station.

11. Ask students to investigate immigrant assimilation into an "American culture" over the years and to report orally or in writing on one of the following topics related to immigrants and immigration: elements of U.S. culture derived from immigrants’ native cultures, immigration trends over the last century, areas of the United States that are centers of ethnic populations, the ethnic composition of the community in which your school is located, factors that cause people to emigrate, contributions to U.S. society by immigrants, the debate over limitations on immigration, or the debate over "English-speaking only" schools or workplaces.