Who paid for building the Statue of Liberty?

[fuzzypickles]

The Statue of Liberty was a centennial gift from the French, which I assume means it was built in France and shipped across the sea in pieces. Who paid to reassemble it, the French or the U.S.?

(I know I’d be pissed if someone gave me a gift that cost a million dollars to put together…)

[Gotterfunken]

The French. But the US did have to contribute financially to the monument–while the French funded the construction and assembly of the statue itself, the Americans had to raise the money for the pedestal:

The Statue was a joint effort between America and France and it was agreed upon that the American people were to build the pedestal, and the French people were responsible for the Statue and its assembly here in the United States. However, lack of funds was a problem on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. In France, public fees, various forms of entertainment, and a lottery were among the methods used to raise funds. In the United States, benefit theatrical events, art exhibitions, auctions and prize fights assisted in providing needed funds. . . . Back in America, fund raising for the pedestal was going particularly slowly, so Joseph Pulitzer (noted for the Pulitzer Prize) opened up the editorial pages of his newspaper, “The World” to support the fund raising effort. Pulitzer used his newspaper to criticize both the rich who had failed to finance the pedestal construction and the middle class who were content to rely upon the wealthy to provide the funds. Pulitzer’s campaign of harsh criticism was successful in motivating the people of America to donate.

[bolding mine]

Statue of Liberty by Frederic Bartholdi at GreatBuildings

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