There are many famous monuments around the globe that are famous for their architectural renditions and some are well known for exhibiting precision in their making.
A very well known monument that is world famous is the statue of liberty, in the New York City of the United States.
The UNESCO declared his monument as a world heritage site in 1984. The statue is totally made up of copper as the construction material and it signifies a lot of important things related to human dignity and freedom.
Freedom of man to live his live with freedom and dignity is depicted in the monument.
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It exhibits high level of independence of man and inspires him to lead a life free of slavery and stand up for one’s own rights. It symbolizes the rights of humans like right to live, basic rights of humans etc.
The United States got their independence in 1776 and the statue of liberty was a dedication that actually symbolizes its independence.
The United States received the monument as a gift from the French government of yore. It was actually a kind of pact between the French and the US government and the French government offered the monument to them as a gift.
The monument also stood in its place to welcome many immigrants and to spread to them, the message of freedom and self-rights.
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History of Statue of Liberty
When Americans got their independence, they had seen what other countries that fought for their freedom go through.
People were in dire need of independence to lead a peaceful and dignified life. They looked out for ways to come out of their shells and be liberated.
On this account, this statue was a huge dedication and representation of their win. The monument is actually depicting a lady covered in robes and holding a torch in her right hand.
The torch is supposed to show way or provide new light in the way of people seeking fresh pathways to break free from old bondages.
It was a motivational and path breaking monument for all Americans and stands special in their hearts to this day. It is a sightseeing place, situated in the New York harbor.
Many visitors who visit the country for the first time flock to the island to get a glimpse of the statue in all its splendor and get captivated by its architectural beauty.
A French man was behind the construction of the monument and it was the biggest gift ever from the French to the Americans depicting their independence.
The statue of liberty was not built in a day. The French and the Americans had made a pact within them to break up the construction costs within themselves and worked out a probable equation.
The French government took responsibility to build the statue and decided to bear the building costs of the statue of the lady liberty. To stand the statue, there needed a pedestal that could act as a support for on which the statue would be built upon.
Construction and Fund Raising Costs of the Monument
The French government while deciding to build the statue, passed on the responsibility of the pedestal building to the American government and the American government decided to bear expenses for the pedestal or the stand for the statue. Next came the issue of raising funds to construct the monument.
The Americans and the French struggled alike to raise building costs for the monument but they could not raise enough funds from the public.
The work of the monument started looking impossible at a certain moment and both were worried about the same. So, a person by name Joseph Pulitzer came forward as volunteer to resolve the issue of fund raising.
Joseph Pulitzer had a newspaper of his own and his articles were very popular at that time and had lot of readers. Readers showed lot of interest in his columns and he used the same popularity to cash in on the fund raising need.
The American community had both middle-class and the elite class readers of this newspaper. It was quiet popular among both the classes, so what Pulitzer did, was that he wrote an article that directly talked about the dependency of the middle class and the rich class over each other.
It was seen that the middle class people always depended on the rich class to survive on their money and fulfill their needs.
This went in saying that the middle class could not donate anything or add to the funds as they had to borrow money from the rich class for their daily needs.
Next came the elite class which was so constricted in spending its money that it hardly cared for the fund raising call. Mr. Pulitzer caught attention through his newspaper by bringing into light these negative ways of both classes of people.
The article worked wonders and funds started pouring in for the construction. Gradually, the construction costs were balanced and the monument was built successfully.
Depiction of The Lady Of Liberty
We shall now move on to the beauty of the lady liberty. The focus of the entire monument is the expression on the face of the lady. The lady actually has no expression on her face.
It is a neutral feeling depicted on the face. Looks of peace and being in calm, dignified silence has surprised many critics worldwide regarding the face expression.
When the monument was built, it came to be a huge, massive structure that looked powerful and gigantic.
The message to the world through the monument was clear. America emerged as one of the super powers later and this monument directly shows the world why it leads as the super power.
The grace and the richness with which the statue is depicted speak for itself. The central message given by the expression is very clear when one observes the face closely.
A country more popularly known as the super power does not propagate ideas of slavery and curtail freedom of one.
It believes in free thinking and high quality of living. Richness in thoughts, richness in purpose and the idea to serve without fear and constraints are some of the powerful words that can be used to describe the monument.
The massive structure resembles the gigantic power the country holds in the world face.
The country has made a position for itself in all respects and people look up to the country for many inspirations. This very structure serves as a major inspiration to fight for one’s own self rights and to emerge as a winner.
The statue of liberty became so popular that it is depicted at many places in America in different sizes and versions. It is depicted in the US currency notes and coins also. The statue spreads the message of maintaining global peace and tranquility.
When constructing the statue, the US government was very particular about the inner details of the construction.
Every single detail regarding the construction was looked into with a great deal of attention as they were very sure they wanted a torch bearer that could spread the message of peace and love, not only to their own country but also to all countries worldwide.
It had to be a global thing, but standing in the lands of America spreading the message from its own land. So, the heavy structure needed a very intricate expert who had earlier experience in investing his time and efforts in such a huge construction.
The person who overlooked the construction of the Eiffel tower was hired as the structural engineer to build the initial model of the monument.
This led him to come up with a structural framework that became functional and the governments approved the sketch of the framework and soon began working on the construction.
Initially copper was used to build the model. After many years, the statue had to be re-modeled owing to the powers of the nature and this time bronze was used for the purpose.
There cannot be anything similar to the statue of liberty due to its serene beauty and it definitely attracts many a visitors and tourists to have a glimpse of the lady of the liberty and understand the global message it is trying to promote through its depictions.
The torch held by the lady consists of a flame depicted in the form of a gold leaf. The pedestal also looks very peculiar and has a star shaped structure with eleven points at different places on the star.
The message of global peace is emitted from this national monument of the US and it feels great to have a glimpse of the monument at least once in our lifetime.
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