France gifted the Statue of Liberty to the United States.
The monument was conceived as a symbol of friendship between the French and American peoples. French political thinker Édouard de Laboulaye promoted the project, and sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi designed the statue. The French people funded and built the statue, while Americans raised money for its pedestal and provided the site in New York Harbor.
The copper-clad figure was constructed in France, shipped across the Atlantic in sections, and assembled on its pedestal on what was then called Bedloe’s Island. It was dedicated on October 28, 1886, in a ceremony attended by President Grover Cleveland. Gustave Eiffel, later famous for the Eiffel Tower, engineered the statue’s internal iron framework.
A common misconception is that the French government alone presented the monument. In reality, fundraising involved citizens, municipalities, schoolchildren, and donors across France. The statue’s symbolism also goes beyond national friendship: its broken chain represents freedom from oppression, while its tablet bears the date of American independence.