The Symbol of America ---The

投稿類別：英文寫作類

篇名： The Symbol of America ---The Statue of Liberty

吳美馨。私立興華高級中學。應用外語科 一年2班 詹家璿。私立興華高級中學。應用外語科 一年2班

指導老師： 何佩珊 老師

1

PDF created with pdfFactory trial version www.pdffactory.com The Symbol of America ---The Statue of Liberty

I. Introduction

Human beings have long been seeking freedom since history began. Freedom has become a universal value of life. As the saying goes, “I would rather die than be not free.” Here is a research on the world’s famous symbol of freedom---- the Statue of Liberty! The United States is the first country to succeed in fighting for its freedom by breaking free of the British rule. People in wanted to show the close relationship between the two countries by giving the Statue of Liberty to the United States to celebrate its 100th Annuversary of Independence.

II. Thesis A. History

The history of the statue dates back to 1876, when France was in political turmoil. Édouard René de Laboulaye, a politician and sympathetic writer of the history of the United States, headed a discussion over a suitable gift to the States to show their friendship to the U.S.A. Eventually they came up with the idea of giving a statue to the States to show their repect to the republican virtues. In the meantime, by presenting the statue of liberty, they intended to promote their political belief--a true democracy, rather than the French third republic established by the autocratic politicians in France. Finally, Frédéric Bartholdi, a well-known French sculptor, was appointed to design the sculpture and Maurice Koechlin, designer of the Tower, was responsible for the internal structure.

On a visit to Egypt, Bartholdi was inspired by the project of the Suez Canal. He saw a giant lighthouse standing at the entrance of the canal. He then drew plans for the statue. It was patterned after the Roman Goddess, , with light beaming out from both a headband and a torch thrust upward into the sky. Bartholdi presented his plans in 1867 and, with revisions, again in 1869, but the project was never commissioned because of financial troubles in France.

2

PDF created with pdfFactory trial version www.pdffactory.com The Symbol of America ---The Statue of Liberty

B. Funds

At last it was agreed that the two countries joined together to complete the project. People of the United States were to build the base, and the French people were responsible for the statue and its assembly in the States. In France, public donations, performances of entertainment being held, and a charitable lottery were among the methods to raise the money, 2,250,000 francs ($250,000). In the United States, theaters, art exhibitions, auctions and prize fights helped in providing needed funds.

Fund raising in France for the statue was completed in July,1882. However, In the United States, financing for the pedestal proceeded slowly, so publisher Joseph Pulitzer (founder of the Pulitzer Prize) used his newspaper, The World, to support the fund raising effort in 1883. His campaign was an important contribution to the effort, but ultimately Senator Evarts and the American Committee headed to raise the majority of funds for the pedestal.

Construction of the statue was completed in France in July 1884. The cornerstone of the pedestal in the States was laid on August 5, 1884, but construction had to be stopped by lack of funds in January 1885. Again Joseph Pulitzer launched a campaign to help raise the renewed fund. Eventually, financing for the pedestal was completed on August 11, 1885 and construction was finished on April 22, 1886.The statue arrived in New York Harbor on June 17, 1885. To prepare for transit, the Statue was reduced to 350 individual pieces and packed in 214 crates.

The statue, which was stored for eleven months in crates waiting for its pedestal to be finished, was then reassembled in four months. On October 28, 1886, the Statue of Liberty was unveiled by President Grover Cleveland in front of thousands of spectators.

The Statue of Liberty functioned as a lighthouse from 1886 to 1902. There was a lighthouse keeper and the electric light could be seen for 24 miles (39 km) at sea. As a lighthouse, it is the first in the United States to use electricity. there was also an electric plant on the island to generate power for the light.

C. Structure

Workers erected scaffolding around the statue, obscuring it from public view until the rededication on July 3, 1986. Inside work began with workers using

3

PDF created with pdfFactory trial version www.pdffactory.com The Symbol of America ---The Statue of Liberty

liquid nitrogen to remove seven layers of paint applied to the interior of the copper skin over the decades. Large holes in the copper skin were repaired with the addition of an inner lip, upon which new copper patches were inset, riveted, and hammered flush. The internal structure of the upraised right arm was reworked. The statue was erected with the arm offset 18" (0.46 m) to the right and forward of Eiffel's central frame, while the head was offset 24" (0.61 m) to the left, which had compromised with the framework. Theory held that Bartholdi made the modification without Eiffel's involvement after seeing the arm and head were too close. Engineers considered reinforcements made in 1932 insufficient and added diagonal bracing in 1984 and 1986 to make the arm structurally sound. Besides the replacement of much of the internal iron with stainless steel and the structural reinforcement of the statue itself, the restoration of the mid-1980s also included the replacement of the original torch with a replica, replacing the original iron stairs with new stairs, installing a newer elevator within the pedestal, and upgrading climate control systems. The Statue of Liberty was reopened to the public on July 5, 1986.

D. External c-1 Crown： The seven rays on the crown represent seven continents of the world---- North and South America, Australia, Antarctica, Africa, Europe, Asia.

圖一

c-2 Torch：

Held on her right hand as a symbol of freedom.

圖二

c-3 Book：

Held on her left hand inscribed July 4, 1776 "Declaration of

4

PDF created with pdfFactory trial version www.pdffactory.com The Symbol of America ---The Statue of Liberty

Independence".

圖三

c-4 Right foot：

Trampling broken chains, as a symbol of breaking free of yoke and moving toward a bright future.

圖四

III. Conclusion

The Statue of Liberty is a symbol of American spirit fighting for its freedom, independence from British rule. It is regarded as a major breakthrough in international diplomacy. It created a long-term peace, friendship and relationship between France and the United States.. The torch in her right hand illuminated the American future, creating a new century, in which the United States turns out to be the light house to lead countries all over the world to freedom. In 1894, the Statue of Liberty has been inscribed on the World Heritage List. It was the highest in the world commemorative structure. It has defined the value of democracy for the world and inspired countries under suppress to fight for their freedom. The American spirit also inspires millions of immigrants to go to the States to pursue their dreams. IV Reference Website http://www.statueliberty.net/index.html http://www.nps.gov/archive/stli/prod02.htm#Statue%20of http://www.nps.gov/stli/index.htm

Picture Reference

圖一： Referencehttp://www.newyorkstatesearch.com/photos/Statue_of_Liberty/Stat ue_of_Liberty_4.html

5

PDF created with pdfFactory trial version www.pdffactory.com The Symbol of America ---The Statue of Liberty

圖二： http://www.flickr.com/photos/mbell1975/2481757162/

圖三： http://www.flickr.com/photos/alexander_schippers/4337917242/

圖四： http://www.flickr.com/photos/dgmiami/3139599487/

Book Reference 1．America the Beautiful。Simon & Schuster 2．The Statue of Liberty。Random House Children Books

6

PDF created with pdfFactory trial version www.pdffactory.com