自由女神
For over 100 years,the Statue of Liberty has
been the symbol of the United states.The statye
of Liberty was a gift from France to the U.S.
France helped the U.S. win its freedom from the
British,but in the late 19th century,French
people were losing their freedom under Napolean`s
control.Some French scholars suggested giving the
U.S. a mounment as a gift for its 100th birthday
in 1876.The gift should be something that could
stand for freedom and remind people of the
friendship between the two countries.Bartholdi,
the famous French artist and sculptor,designed
the statue of Liberty.People believe that the
model for the statue was Bartholdi`s mother.The
famous engineer Eiffel,who created the Eiffel
Tower later,also helped.
Because the statue was a gift from the people
in France and not the government,money became a
big problem.That`s why the statue was finished in
parts:first the raised arm and the torch,then the
head,and then the rest of the body.It took over
ten years to finish the statue.The finished
statue was taken apart into 350 pieces,put in 214
wooden boxes,and arrived in New York on June 15,
1885.New York was chosen as the home Liberty
because in those day,it was the place where
new comers to America got their first look of the
New World.It took almost another year to finish
the base and then six more months to put all the
pieces together.Finally,on October 28,1886,
Liberty-the new Miss Americ,was introduced to the
world.Standing a total of almost 93 meters on the
Bedloe`s Island in New York Harbor,Liberty was a
birthday presnet that was ten years late.
Actually,there are three Statues of Liberty
in the world.The original model of the statue is
in the beautiful Luxembourg Gardens in Paris.It
is only 4.5 meters tall.Another larger Statue of
Liberty is on a tiny island called Swan Ally in
the Seine River.Americans wanted to returned a
gift to France for the 100th anniversary of the
French Revolution,so they made an exact copy of
the statue they had and sent it back to France.
It was shown to the world on November 15,1889,
facing the Eiffel Tower.However,the creator of
the statue Bartholdi was very angry that it did
not face the statue in New York.A few dats later,
during the Paris World`s Fair,Bartholdi got his
wish and made the French turn the statue around
to face the U.S. Bartholdi also thought that
Americans should change Bedloe`s Lsland to
Liberty Island,but this wish didn`t come true
until 1956.
The Statue of Liberty in New York wieghs 225
tons,not including the base.It is also the first
statue that allowed people to go inside and climb
up.However,a person would have to climb 354 steps
to the 22nd story to get to the crown.The 25
windows on the crown symbols of the gems found on
Earth and heaven`s light shining over the world,
and the seven rays are the seven seas and seven
continents of the world.The torch,which is a
symbol of enlightenment,has also gone through
many changes in material and design over the
years.Today,people cannot climb to the crown or
the torch anymore,but they can still visit the
museum inside the base or see the inside of the
statue through a glass ceiling.The lady may be
old and silent,but the spirits she stands for
will always be in the hearts of freedom fighters.
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