LIBERTY: PAID FOR BY THE POOR SINCE 1776
Literally and figuratively it turns out. I heard an interesting factoid this morning while having my coffee. I was watching the travel channel, which I do frequently. Not being of an income bracket to afford actual travel, my travel channel viewing allows me to get a sense of other countries that I can’t (yet) afford to visit in person. Sigh.
But I digress. The first part of the show was set in NYC, featuring a bunch of fancy hotels (massage, boutique cocktails, bla bla bla). Then they turned to the Statue of Liberty - the most famous and recognized symbol of liberty in the history of the world.
And here’s the fact that made me realize how little has changed in our promised land since the statue was conceived and built. It’s worth noting that these facts had not been mentioned to me previously in my 44 years on our little sphere.
Here’s what happened: The nation of France was responsible for the construction, shipment and assembly of the statue in America. The U.S. was to pay for the pedestal on which it would stand.
From the U.S. Parks Department on the French fundraising effort:
Someone with the Franco-American Union had an inspiration: They would hold a lottery. Since very few contributions were coming from France’s moneyed elite, the idea of engaging the public’s attention with a lottery was a brilliant one. The prizes were highly coveted and valuable, including two works by Bartholdi himself (the statue’s sculptor).
Additional funds were raised in a manner worthy of contemporary merchandising techniques: a signed and numbered collection of clay models of the statue were sold in France and America. By the end of 1879, about 250,000 francs (approximately $750,000 U.S.) had been raised for the statue’s construction. Enough, most people thought, to complete the work.
While the statue was nearing completion in France, little was happening on the American side. The American press continued to be critical of the project, especially of its cost. They couldn’t understand why the pedestal should cost as much as the statue itself. Congress rejected a bill appropriating $100,000 for the base. New York approved a grant of $50,000, but the expenditure was vetoed by the governor.
Many Americans outside of New York considered it New York’s statue. “Let New York pay for it,” they said, while America’s newly rich, self-made millionaires were saying and contributing nothing. The American half of the Franco-American Union, led by William M. Evarts, held the usual fund-raising events, but public apathy was almost as monumental as the statue itself.
By 1884, after years of fund-raising, only $182,491 had been collected and $179,624 had been spent. It took the intervention of Joseph Pulitzer and the power of the media to make a difference.
Joseph Pulitzer (yes, that Pulitzer) was a Hungarian immigrant who fought in the Civil War, became a successful journalist and married a wealthy woman. In 1883, he bought a financial newspaper called the World; he already owned the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. When he heard that the Statue of Liberty was about to die from lack of funds, he saw his chance to take advantage of three distinct opportunities: to raise funds for the statue, to increase his newspaper’s circulation and to blast the rich for their selfishness.
Pulitzer set the fund-raising goal of the World at $100,000. In its pages he taunted the rich (thereby increasing the paper’s appeal among working-class people) and firmly planted the notion that the statue was a monument not just for New York City but, indeed, for all of America.
Perhaps Pulitzer’s cleverest ploy was the promise to publish the name of every single contributor in the pages of the World, no matter how small the contribution. The editorial that opened the fund-raising campaign set its tone. He wrote: “The World is the people’s paper and it now appeals to the people to come forward and raise the money [for the statue’s pedestal].” The statue, he said, was paid for by “the masses of the French people. Let us respond in like manner. Let us not wait for the millionaires to give this money. It is not a gift from the millionaires of France to the millionaires of America, but a gift of the whole people of France to the whole people of America.” The circulation of the World increased by almost 50,000 copies.
African American newspapers joined in the effort, encouraging their readers to contribute to a monument that would, in part, commemorate the end of slavery. So the money poured in, as single-dollar donations from grandmothers and pennies from the piggybanks of schoolchildren.
On June 15, 1885, the Statue of Liberty arrived at Bedloe’s Island inside 214 wooden packing crates. On August 11, 1885, the front page of the World proclaimed, “ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS!” The goal had been reached, and slightly exceeded, thanks to more than 120,000 individual contributions.
- - - - - - - - - -
That’s right. More than 120,000 donations to raise $100,000. That makes the average contribution less than one dollar. Apparently the lumber barons and railroad magnates just couldn’t spare it.
When I heard this tidbit this morning, I couldn’t help but think that not much has changed in America since it began. The poor do the majority of fighting and dying for liberty, from the Revolutionary War to today’s Iraq. The wealthy elite dye their fingers purple and have their photos taken in self-tribute for the liberty bought with other people’s lives.
When I moved to NYC in 1992, all I could think of was getting to see the actual Statue of Liberty in person. As a kid, I thought all the greatness of America was expressed in that single statue. I had pictures of the statue and NY harbor in my ViewMaster, and clicked like a mad thing to see Lady Liberty from every angle. I couldn’t look at it without imagining what it must have felt like for the people who left poverty and tyranny and risked their lives and livelihoods to get here, and were greeted after that long voyage by that remarkable presence. The first time I laid eyes on it in person, I cried unashamedly, and god bless them, my NY friends just looked at me and smiled. They didn’t laugh.
I know that I’ve rambled some in this story. But hearing that there was a time when the future of Lady Liberty was in doubt just made me go a little bit mad I think.
And I can’t help but feel that the future of liberty is again in doubt. Will she survive the wealthy bandits that lead our country now? Apparently, the protection of liberty will always be up to us, the people.
Good night and Good Luck, America.
But I digress. The first part of the show was set in NYC, featuring a bunch of fancy hotels (massage, boutique cocktails, bla bla bla). Then they turned to the Statue of Liberty - the most famous and recognized symbol of liberty in the history of the world.
And here’s the fact that made me realize how little has changed in our promised land since the statue was conceived and built. It’s worth noting that these facts had not been mentioned to me previously in my 44 years on our little sphere.
Here’s what happened: The nation of France was responsible for the construction, shipment and assembly of the statue in America. The U.S. was to pay for the pedestal on which it would stand.
From the U.S. Parks Department on the French fundraising effort:
Someone with the Franco-American Union had an inspiration: They would hold a lottery. Since very few contributions were coming from France’s moneyed elite, the idea of engaging the public’s attention with a lottery was a brilliant one. The prizes were highly coveted and valuable, including two works by Bartholdi himself (the statue’s sculptor).
Additional funds were raised in a manner worthy of contemporary merchandising techniques: a signed and numbered collection of clay models of the statue were sold in France and America. By the end of 1879, about 250,000 francs (approximately $750,000 U.S.) had been raised for the statue’s construction. Enough, most people thought, to complete the work.
While the statue was nearing completion in France, little was happening on the American side. The American press continued to be critical of the project, especially of its cost. They couldn’t understand why the pedestal should cost as much as the statue itself. Congress rejected a bill appropriating $100,000 for the base. New York approved a grant of $50,000, but the expenditure was vetoed by the governor.
Many Americans outside of New York considered it New York’s statue. “Let New York pay for it,” they said, while America’s newly rich, self-made millionaires were saying and contributing nothing. The American half of the Franco-American Union, led by William M. Evarts, held the usual fund-raising events, but public apathy was almost as monumental as the statue itself.
By 1884, after years of fund-raising, only $182,491 had been collected and $179,624 had been spent. It took the intervention of Joseph Pulitzer and the power of the media to make a difference.
Joseph Pulitzer (yes, that Pulitzer) was a Hungarian immigrant who fought in the Civil War, became a successful journalist and married a wealthy woman. In 1883, he bought a financial newspaper called the World; he already owned the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. When he heard that the Statue of Liberty was about to die from lack of funds, he saw his chance to take advantage of three distinct opportunities: to raise funds for the statue, to increase his newspaper’s circulation and to blast the rich for their selfishness.
Pulitzer set the fund-raising goal of the World at $100,000. In its pages he taunted the rich (thereby increasing the paper’s appeal among working-class people) and firmly planted the notion that the statue was a monument not just for New York City but, indeed, for all of America.
Perhaps Pulitzer’s cleverest ploy was the promise to publish the name of every single contributor in the pages of the World, no matter how small the contribution. The editorial that opened the fund-raising campaign set its tone. He wrote: “The World is the people’s paper and it now appeals to the people to come forward and raise the money [for the statue’s pedestal].” The statue, he said, was paid for by “the masses of the French people. Let us respond in like manner. Let us not wait for the millionaires to give this money. It is not a gift from the millionaires of France to the millionaires of America, but a gift of the whole people of France to the whole people of America.” The circulation of the World increased by almost 50,000 copies.
African American newspapers joined in the effort, encouraging their readers to contribute to a monument that would, in part, commemorate the end of slavery. So the money poured in, as single-dollar donations from grandmothers and pennies from the piggybanks of schoolchildren.
On June 15, 1885, the Statue of Liberty arrived at Bedloe’s Island inside 214 wooden packing crates. On August 11, 1885, the front page of the World proclaimed, “ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS!” The goal had been reached, and slightly exceeded, thanks to more than 120,000 individual contributions.
- - - - - - - - - -
That’s right. More than 120,000 donations to raise $100,000. That makes the average contribution less than one dollar. Apparently the lumber barons and railroad magnates just couldn’t spare it.
When I heard this tidbit this morning, I couldn’t help but think that not much has changed in America since it began. The poor do the majority of fighting and dying for liberty, from the Revolutionary War to today’s Iraq. The wealthy elite dye their fingers purple and have their photos taken in self-tribute for the liberty bought with other people’s lives.
When I moved to NYC in 1992, all I could think of was getting to see the actual Statue of Liberty in person. As a kid, I thought all the greatness of America was expressed in that single statue. I had pictures of the statue and NY harbor in my ViewMaster, and clicked like a mad thing to see Lady Liberty from every angle. I couldn’t look at it without imagining what it must have felt like for the people who left poverty and tyranny and risked their lives and livelihoods to get here, and were greeted after that long voyage by that remarkable presence. The first time I laid eyes on it in person, I cried unashamedly, and god bless them, my NY friends just looked at me and smiled. They didn’t laugh.
I know that I’ve rambled some in this story. But hearing that there was a time when the future of Lady Liberty was in doubt just made me go a little bit mad I think.
And I can’t help but feel that the future of liberty is again in doubt. Will she survive the wealthy bandits that lead our country now? Apparently, the protection of liberty will always be up to us, the people.
Good night and Good Luck, America.
By Victoria Ellen on September 30, 2007 5:41 PM
NonnyO said:
Trivia: The copper for the Statue of Liberty came from Norway.
Karen said:
I always thought Lady Liberty looked a little sad and now I know why. All that hard work and such ignorance all around. I can't help but think of Rush and his friends making fun of the French. They just have NO clue!
posted by Kangaroo Brisbane Australia at 4:46 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home