When the Statue of Liberty was presented to the United States of America by the people of France, the people in America did not understand that Miss Liberty was a gift to all the Americans. They thought she was a gift only to New York. So they didn’t want to pay for her base. At that time, Joseph Pulitzer was editor of the World newspaper. He wrote stories that asked people to give money to help pay for Miss Liberty’s base. Pulitzer asked his friends who worked at other cities’ newspapers to help. Soon the country knew that Miss Liberty was a gift for everyone. The people sent money. At least there was enough money to build the base.
In Paris, the huge statue was taken down piece by piece. She was carefully packed in 214 boxes. In June 1884, she left for America. When Miss Liberty’s ship arrived in America, ninety boats greeted her with flags flying. They went with her into New York Harbor. The base, which had to be very big and solid to hold the lady, was not finished. So Miss Liberty was stored on Bedloe’s Island. When the last stone of the base was put in place, the workers showered coins from their pockets into the wet mortar. They were very happy. Next came the hard task of putting Miss Liberty together. The people on shore watched each day as the framework rose higher into the sky. Then came the copper "skin". Miss Liberty began as a sign of the friendship between the two countries. Since that time, she has come to mean freedom for the Americans.