Conceived in the aftermath of the American Civil War and the grief that swept France over the assassination of Abraham Lincoln; the Statue of Liberty has been a potent symbol of the nations highest ideals since it was unveiled in 1886. Dramatically situated on Bedloes Island (now Liberty Island) in the harbor of New York City; the statue has served as a reminder for generations of immigrants of Americas long tradition as an asylum for the poor and the persecuted. Although it is among the most famous sculptures in the world; the story of its creation is little known.In Enlightening the World; Yasmin Sabina Khan provides a fascinating new account of the design of the statue and the lives of the people who created it; along with the tumultuous events in France and the United States that influenced them. Khans narrative begins on the battlefields of Gettysburg; where Lincoln framed the Civil War as a conflict testing whether a nation "conceived in liberty; and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal . . . can long endure." People around the world agreed with Lincoln that this questionmdash;and the fate of the Union itselfmdash;affected the "whole family of man." Inspired by the Unions victory and stunned by Lincolns death; Eacute;douard-Reneacute; Lefebvre de Laboulaye; a legal scholar and noted proponent of friendship between his native France and the United States; conceived of a monument to liberty and the exemplary form of government established by the young nation. For Laboulaye and all of France; the statue would be called La Liberteacute; Eacute;clairant le Mondemdash;Liberty Enlightening the World.Following the statues twenty-year journey from concept to construction; Khan reveals in brilliant detail the intersecting lives that led to the realization of Laboulayes dream: the Marquis de Lafayette; Alexis de Tocqueville; the sculptor Auguste Bartholdi; whose commitment to liberty and self-government was heightened by his experience of the Franco-Prussian War; the architect Richard Morris Hunt; the first American to study architecture at the prestigious Eacute;cole des Beaux-Arts in Paris; and the engineer Gustave Eiffel; who pushed the limits for large-scale metal construction. Also here are the contributions of such figures as Senators Charles Sumner and Carl Schurz; the artist John La Farge; the poet Emma Lazarus; and the publisher Joseph Pulitzer. While exploring the creation of the statue; Khan points to possible sourcesmdash;several previously unexaminedmdash;for the design. She links the statues crown of rays with Benjamin Franklins image of the rising sun and makes a clear connection between the broken chain under Lady Libertys foot and the abolition of slavery. Through the rich story of this remarkable national monument; Enlightening the World celebrates both a work of human accomplishment and the vitality of liberty.
#2902833 in eBooks 2011-07-21 2011-09-23File Name: B0056H2ERY
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