What is the controversy with the Statue of Liberty?

The controversy about the race of the Statue of Liberty has been a a ongoing battle for years. Some people think that the statue was modeled after a caucasian woman , some people think she was modeled after a African American woman.



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Instead of representing freedom and justice for all, the Statue emphasized the bitter ironies of America's professed identity as a just and free society for all people regardless of race.

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Suffragists protesting during the opening ceremony objected to the use of a female figure to symbolize liberty when American women did not have the right to vote, and African American journalists expressed their ambivalence about the Statue in the wake of Reconstruction, signaling that its interpretation would become a ...

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The Statue's shackles and feet. In 1886, The Statue of Liberty was a symbol of democratic government and Enlightenment ideals as well as a celebration of the Union's victory in the American Civil War and the abolition of slavery.

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The Statue was originally designed for the Suez Canal in Egypt. Bartholdi did not craft the basic design of Liberty specifically for America. As a young man, he had visited Egypt and was enchanted by the project underway to dig a channel between the Mediterranean and the Red Sea.

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A gift from the people of France, she has watched over New York Harbor since 1886, and on her base is a tablet inscribed with words penned by Emma Lazarus in 1883: Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

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The too hearty and well-fed Lady Liberty, said Mark Twain, didn't reflect the insults and humiliations long endured by freedom.

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She sways in the wind The iron structure at the core was the height of innovation at its time, capable of shifting in the wind without cracking or bending. Lady Liberty can sway up to three inches in any direction during heavy winds, while her torch can sway up to five inches.

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The Statue of Liberty has stayed this color for over a hundred years because all the exposed copper is now oxidized: she's stable at this point of her life.

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Some say the current white statue was substituted for the original when American politicians objected to the portrayal of Liberty as a black woman. Some have even argued that the original black statue still exists, either in France or hidden somewhere in the catacombs of New York.

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Her crown has seven points that represent rays of light and also the seven seas and continents; the original name for the statue is “Liberty Enlightening the World.” There are broken chains, or shackles, at her feet that also symbolize her freedom.

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The last line of the poem reads: Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door! Emma Lazarus is invoking the new opportunities presented to immigrants that make the trek from the Old World to the United States - the golden door is a symbol for their entrance into a land of ...

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5 Things You May Not Know About the Statue of Liberty
  • The statue represents a Roman Goddess. ...
  • The crown's spikes represent the oceans and continents. ...
  • Lady Liberty is struck by lightning 600 times every year. ...
  • Gustave Eiffel helped to build it. ...
  • Lady Liberty's face is modelled on the artist's mother.


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