My trip to the Statue of Liberty

On Wednesday April 4th, two cousins and I were a part of a Circle Line trip to Liberty Island to visit the mammoth and truly great Statue of Liberty, as well as Ellis Island to learn about the epic journey that many immigrants took in the early 20^th Century. Just thinking about the struggle the immigrants of old faced in their home countries and their fight to come to America will give just about anyone goose bumps. Many Americans, especially New Yorkers have seen the Statue of Liberty on numerous occasions in either pictures, film, or first hand experience and merely see it as a physical structure and nothing more. That thought was also my view until I finally learned the true history of the statue and what it represented, so as we entered Battery Park we were ready to relive the history.

The Statue of Liberty was architected by the United States, but was built by the French, in which they sent as a gift to America for their help in the war. It arrived in 1885, and was copper, which glistened with the sunlight. However, over the years the statue took on a green shade due to the fading of the copper. The Statue of Liberty which stood more that 300 feet tall was the first sign of freedom the immigrants saw as they arrived, and it exemplified the meaning of freedom and the pursuit of happiness. The icon rests on Liberty Island located on the mouth of the Hudson River. On the trip we were able to walk along the observation deck, which gave us a 360 degree view of all the scenery, from a breath taking shot of downtown Manhattan, the harbor and also New Jersey. With Park Rangers narrating as we explored it bought a sense of us actually being in the area during the time of major immigration. The statue has many symbols such as the tablet in Lady Liberty’s arm which states July 4, 1776 in Roman Numerals signifying the date of the Declaration of Independence. The land on which the statue stands on is very interesting also, it was nicknamed Liberty Island even though the official name was Bedloe Island, but that was fixed in 1956 when it officially became Liberty Island. The attacks on September 11^th, 2001 have made it impossible to enter the statue without reservation, but that was not too bad since the major part of the visit was more sentimental than physical.

If anyone has not seen it upclose, make sure to do so. It a truly remarkable memory.