What's inside the Statue of Liberty?

Summary

This video script offers an in-depth exploration of the Statue of Liberty, revealing its history, symbolism, and construction process. Gifted by France in 1886, the statue stands as a symbol of freedom, holding a torch and a tablet with the Declaration of Independence's date. Made of copper, it has oxidized to its iconic green color. Designed by Frederic August Bartholdi and supported by Gustave Eiffel's iron structure, the statue was shipped in pieces and reassembled in New York Harbor. The script also details visiting the statue, including the museum and the experience of climbing to the crown, with a note on current COVID-19 restrictions.

Takeaways

• 🗽 The Statue of Liberty is officially named 'Liberty Enlightening the World' and was a gift from France to the United States in 1886.
• 🌍 Located on Liberty Island in the Upper Bay between New York and New Jersey, the statue is a symbol of freedom and was one of the first sights for immigrants arriving in the U.S.
• 👉 The statue holds a torch in her right hand and a tablet with the Declaration of Independence date in Roman numerals in her left, symbolizing freedom and the end of slavery with a broken shackle and chain.
• 📏 Standing 46 meters tall without the pedestal, the Statue of Liberty reaches a total height of 93 meters, equivalent to a 20-story building.
• 🛠 Constructed from copper, the statue's original color was similar to a penny but oxidized to green over 20 years due to exposure to air and rain.
• 🎨 Designed by French sculptor Frederic August Bartholdi, the statue was created in stages, starting from a small clay model to full-size plaster versions before being crafted in copper sheets using the repousse method.
• 🏗 The internal structure, designed by Gustave Eiffel, includes an iron pylon and support beams that allow the statue to sway in the wind, ensuring its stability.
• 📦 The statue was built in Paris, disassembled into 350 pieces, shipped to the U.S., and reassembled on its pedestal, with France funding the statue and the U.S. the pedestal.
• 🛳 To visit Liberty Island, one must take a ferry from Liberty State Park in New Jersey or The Battery in Manhattan, with the island covering nearly 15 acres.
• 🏛 The Statue of Liberty Museum, opened in 2019, showcases the original torch and provides information about the statue's history and significance.
• 🚫 Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, public access inside the pedestal and statue has been restricted, but visitors can still explore Liberty Island and its outdoor areas.

Q & A

What is the official name of the Statue of Liberty?

The official name of the Statue of Liberty is 'Liberty Enlightening the World'.

Who gifted the Statue of Liberty to the United States, and when was it given?

The Statue of Liberty was a gift from the people of France to the United States in the year 1886.

Where is the Statue of Liberty located geographically?

The Statue of Liberty is located on Liberty Island in the Upper Bay, between the states of New York and New Jersey, on the East Coast of the United States.

What is the significance of the torch and tablet in the Statue of Liberty's hands?

The torch in the Statue of Liberty's right hand symbolizes freedom, while the tablet in her left hand bears the date of the Declaration of Independence in Roman numerals.

What does the broken shackle and chain on the Statue of Liberty represent?

The broken shackle and chain symbolize the end of slavery, representing freedom.

How tall is the Statue of Liberty from heel to top of the head, and what is its total height including the pedestal?

The Statue of Liberty is 46 meters tall from heel to the top of the head, and including the pedestal, it stands 93 meters tall.

What material was the Statue of Liberty originally made of, and how did its color change over time?

The Statue of Liberty was originally made of copper, which was the color of a penny. Over about 20 years, the copper oxidized and turned green due to exposure to air and rain.

Who designed the Statue of Liberty, and what was the process of creating the full-size version?

The Statue of Liberty was designed by French sculptor Frederic Auguste Bartholdi. The process involved creating a series of models in increasing sizes, with the final version being made out of sheets of copper using a method called repousse.

Who designed the supporting structure of the Statue of Liberty, and what is its significance?

The supporting structure of the Statue of Liberty was designed by Gustave Eiffel. It includes an iron pylon at the center, which acts as the statue's 'spine', and smaller support beams to allow the statue to sway in the wind.

How was the Statue of Liberty transported to the United States, and what was involved in its reassembly?

The Statue of Liberty was first built in Paris and then disassembled into 350 pieces, which were shipped to the United States. It took an additional four months to reassemble the statue on top of the pedestal.

What are the current restrictions for visiting the Statue of Liberty due to the pandemic, and what hopes are there for the future?

As of the script's recording, the public is not allowed into any part of the pedestal or statue due to COVID-19 restrictions. It is hoped that these restrictions will ease, allowing visits inside the statue once again.

Outlines

00:00

🗽 Exploring the Statue of Liberty's History and Design

This paragraph delves into the historical background and intricate design process of the Statue of Liberty. Officially known as 'Liberty Enlightening the World,' the statue was a gift from France to the United States in 1886. It symbolizes freedom, holding a torch in one hand and a tablet inscribed with the Declaration of Independence's date in the other. The statue's construction involved a complex assembly of copper sheets, a technique known as repousse, and the use of an internal iron framework designed by Gustave Eiffel, who later designed the Eiffel Tower. The statue's original copper color has since turned green due to oxidation, and its construction was a monumental task that took place over a decade.

05:05

🌉 Visiting the Statue of Liberty and Its Attractions

This section provides an overview of how to visit the Statue of Liberty, including the ferry ride from Liberty State Park in New Jersey or The Battery in Manhattan to Liberty Island. It describes the island's amenities such as the Flagpole Plaza, the Information Center, a cafe, bookstore, and the Statue of Liberty Museum, which opened in 2019. The paragraph also details the structure of the statue, including the pedestal and the crown, and the process of obtaining tickets to visit these areas. It mentions the current COVID-19 restrictions that prevent public access to the statue's interior but expresses hope for future reopening.

10:07

🔨 The Statue's Torch, Maintenance, and Sponsorship Acknowledgement

The final paragraph discusses the history of the statue's torch, which was damaged in a 1916 explosion and has been closed to the public ever since. It describes the process maintenance workers use to access the torch for upkeep. The paragraph also includes a brief mention of the sponsor, NordVPN, which encrypts internet traffic for privacy and allows users to access region-restricted content. The sponsor's support is acknowledged for helping to create the video content, and viewers are encouraged to visit NordVPN's website for a special discount using a provided coupon code.

Keywords

💡Statue of Liberty

The Statue of Liberty is a colossal neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor within New York City, which serves as a symbol of freedom and democracy. In the video, it is the central subject, with its history, construction, and symbolism being explored. The statue was a gift from France to the United States in 1886.

💡Liberty Enlightening the World

This is the official name of the Statue of Liberty, emphasizing its role as a beacon of enlightenment and freedom. The video explains that while it is formally known by this name, it is commonly referred to simply as the Statue of Liberty.

💡Copper

Copper is the primary material used in the construction of the Statue of Liberty. The video mentions that the statue was originally the color of a penny but has since oxidized to its iconic green color due to exposure to air and rain. The copper's thickness is also highlighted, being only 2.4 millimeters, which is thinner than two American pennies.

💡Repousse

Repousse is a technique used in metalworking, specifically mentioned in the video as the method by which the Statue of Liberty was crafted from sheets of copper. The process involves hammering the copper into a shape that matches a wooden mold, which is then supported internally with iron straps.

💡Gustave Eiffel

Gustave Eiffel is the engineer who designed the internal structure of the Statue of Liberty, including the iron pylon and support beams. His name is significant as he later designed the Eiffel Tower in Paris. In the video, his contribution to the statue's stability and design is discussed.

💡Fort Wood

Fort Wood is an old military base that is now the base of the Statue of Liberty. The video explains that the star-shaped base of the statue is the remnants of this early 1800s military installation.

💡Pedestal

The pedestal of the Statue of Liberty is the structure upon which the statue stands. The video describes that visitors can access the top of the pedestal with a ticket, which allows them to reach the observation deck and provides a view of the surrounding areas.

💡Double Helix Stairway

The Double Helix Stairway is a feature inside the Statue of Liberty that allows visitors to ascend and descend the statue. The video mentions that this stairway is located within the statue's support structure and provides a unique view of the statue's metal framework.

💡Torch

The torch held by the Statue of Liberty is a symbol of enlightenment. The video explains that the original torch was damaged and replaced in the 1980s, and the new torch is not open to the public due to safety concerns after an explosion in 1916.

💡NordVPN

NordVPN is mentioned in the video as a sponsor. It is an app that encrypts internet traffic to ensure privacy and allows users to access region-restricted content by connecting to servers in different countries. The video provides a brief overview of its features and a promotional offer for viewers.

💡COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic is referenced in the context of its impact on public access to the Statue of Liberty. The video notes that due to the pandemic, the public is currently not allowed inside any part of the pedestal or statue, with the hope that restrictions will ease in the future.

Highlights

The Statue of Liberty was a gift from France to the United States in 1886.

The statue's official name is Liberty Enlightening the World.

The Statue of Liberty is located on Liberty Island in New York Harbor.

The statue is 93 meters tall, equivalent to a 20-story building.

The statue was originally copper-colored but turned green due to oxidation.

The statue was designed by French sculptor Frederic Auguste Bartholdi.

The internal support structure was designed by Gustave Eiffel, who also designed the Eiffel Tower.

The statue was built in pieces in Paris and then shipped to the United States.

The statue was reassembled on Liberty Island over four months.

The statue's torch was replaced in the 1980s due to damage.

Visitors can access Liberty Island via a ferry from Liberty State Park or The Battery.

The Statue of Liberty Museum opened in 2019 and features the original torch.

The pedestal has seven floors, with observation decks offering views of the harbor.

Access to the statue's crown requires a special ticket, which must be reserved in advance.

Public access to the statue's torch has been closed since 1916 due to an explosion in New York Harbor.

Transcripts

- [Narrator] In this video, let's take a close look

at the inside of the Statue of Liberty.

We'll take a quick look at the history,

how the statue was built and where you can go on the inside.

(electronics buzzing)

(logo exploding)

This video was made possible by NordVPN.

(pleasant music)

The statue's official name

is Liberty Enlightening the World,

but today it's known as the Statue of Liberty.

It was a gift to the United States

from the people of France in the year 1886.

If we zoom in on Europe, right here is France,

and across the ocean over here is the United States.

The Statue of Liberty is right here on the East Coast.

If we zoom in here, you can see the state of New York

and the state of New Jersey.

Right in between the two states is the Upper Bay,

often called the New York Harbor.

The Statue of Liberty is here on Liberty Island.

And if we zoom out again, you can see Manhattan

with all of its famous New York buildings.

Here's Governor's Island,

another popular tourist destination,

and right here is Ellis Island, where many immigrants

entered the United States from 1892 to 1954.

As boats sailed into the harbor,

the Statue of Liberty would be one of the first views

that immigrants would see coming to the United States.

The Statue of Liberty has come to be known

as a symbol of freedom.

In her right hand, she holds a torch,

and in her left hand, she holds a tablet that has the date

of the Declaration of Independence in Roman numerals.

One thing you can't see from the ground

is a broken shackle and chain.

This is meant to symbolize the end of slavery.

The statue is 46 meters tall.

If you count from the ground up, it's 93 meters tall.

That's about as tall as a 20-story building.

Here's the size of a person

in comparison to the statue's big toe.

When it was complete in 1886,

it was the tallest statue in the world,

but that title is now held by the Statue of Unity in India.

The Statue of Liberty is made up of copper.

That's right, it was originally the color of a penny.

It only took about 20 years for the air and rain

to slowly oxidize the metal and turn it the color green.

The copper metal has a thickness of only 2.4 millimeters.

That's less than the thickness of two American pennies.

The statue was built in pieces,

and a statue this big takes a lot of planning.

The statue was designed by the French sculptor,

Frederic August Bartholdi.

First, he made the initial sculpture out of clay.

This was only 1.2 meters high.

The average adult is a little taller than this.

Next, a larger version would be twice the size

and would be made out of plaster.

The next version would be much bigger.

This is 1/4 the size of the full statue.

At each stage of enlargement, Bartholdi would be able

to further perfect the details of the statue.

For the full-size version, it had to be built in pieces

so it would fit inside the workshop.

At one point, to raise money, the finished version

of the statue's head was displayed in France,

and the right arm and torch

was displayed in the United States.

Visitors could pay money to climb

to the top of each of these.

So how do we get from the plaster model of the statue

to the finished copper version?

Well, the final version was made out of sheets of copper.

They used a method called repousse. Here's how this works.

They would take pieces of the full-size plaster model

of the statue and build a wooden mold right up next to it.

This would then be used to shape the pieces of copper.

They would hammer them in place

until they would fit the shape of the wooden mold.

After that, the copper was supported

on the inside with iron straps.

Now we have a completed piece of the Statue of Liberty.

By themselves, these pieces would never be able

to hold their own weight.

It needs a supporting structure,

and this was designed by Gustave Eiffel.

His name might sound familiar to you.

Just a few years later, he would go on

to help build the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France.

The Statue of Liberty has an iron pylon at the very center.

You can think of this as the spine to the Statue of Liberty.

Then smaller support beams were built around this

to support the copper pieces of the statue.

The structure would allow the statue to sway in the wind

by up to 12 centimeters at the very top.

This was all first built in Paris, France,

and it took almost 10 years to build.

(upbeat music)

Then, once completed, it was taken apart

into 350 different pieces.

All of this was shipped across the ocean

to the United States.

It took another four months to reassemble the statue

on top of the pedestal.

The French paid for the statue itself,

but the United States paid for the pedestal.

When the statue was finished in 1886,

this was called Bedloe's Island,

but today we call it Liberty Island.

The Statue of Liberty has received

a few renovations over the years.

One of these renovations was the torch.

It had been damaged and was leaking rainwater.

It was replaced in the 1980s.

The original torch is still on display.

I'll show you where later in the video.

To get to Liberty Island, you have to take the ferry,

unless you're a really good swimmer,

but I don't recommend that.

A ferry leaves from two places,

Liberty State Park in New Jersey

and The Battery on the southern tip of Manhattan.

It takes about 15 minutes to get to Liberty Island.

The island has a land area of just under 15 acres.

This is Flagpole Plaza, the Information Center,

cafe and bookstore, and the gift shop.

This is the Statue of Liberty Museum.

This was opened in 2019, so it's still fairly new.

We head down this way to get to the statue.

There's plenty of areas to walk around here.

That way you can see the statue up close

from any angle you choose.

The base of the statue looks like a star shape.

This is the remnants of an old military base

called Fort Wood.

It was used in the early 1800s,

but now it's the base of the Statue of Liberty.

This part is called the pedestal.

When you buy a pedestal ticket, you can go anywhere

on top of the base of the statue

and all the way up to the observation deck.

If you want to go inside the statue, you'll need

to buy a ticket to go all the way up to the crown.

It's a little harder to get ahold of one of these tickets.

You usually have to reserve a few weeks

or even months in advance.

However, since the pandemic, you can still go to the island,

but the public isn't allowed

into any part of the pedestal or statue.

Hopefully, that'll change soon.

To get to the inside of the statue, we'll enter from here.

These doors are called the Centennial Doors.

Remember that you have to have a pedestal ticket

to go inside.

Enter here to get into the pedestal lobby.

The original torch to the Statue of Liberty

used to be right here in the center.

When the museum opened in 2019,

the torch was moved over there.

So now the pedestal lobby is wide open again.

The old museum used to be here in this area,

but now most everything has been moved

over to the new museum.

Now it's time to make our way to the top of the pedestal.

You've got two options.

The elevator is here or the stairs are here.

There are 192 steps to the top of the pedestal.

Inside here, you can see the stairs to go up

and the stairs to climb back down on the other side.

There are seven floors inside the pedestal.

So this is 1P, 2P and all the way up to 7P, the very top.

At level 3P, you can go outside

and view the surrounding areas,

and at level 6P is the official Observation Deck.

You can go outside either here or here.

Once outside, you'll get a good 360-degree view

of anywhere in the harbor.

If you have a ticket to go up to the crown,

then head up to level 7P.

This is where you start your climb

up to the top of the statue.

This is called the Double Helix Stairway,

one way up and the other way to come back down.

These stairs fit right in the middle

of the support structure.

There's not a lot of room on here,

and I hope you're not afraid of heights.

If you get tired, there are a few resting places.

And just in case, there's also an emergency elevator

inside of the statue, not for regular public use.

It carries only three people and can stop

at a few of the platforms along the spiral stairway.

During your climb, you'll be able to see the metal framework

that holds up the statue.

You can even see the individual ripples

of the statue's dress.

And finally, we reach the top of the spiral stairs.

This area is called the crown.

Only a limited number of people can be up here at once.

It's a great place to look out of the windows

onto the harbor.

There's a total of 25 windows on the crown.

On the inside, you can even see the individual patterns

of the statue's hair.

On the back, You'll also notice some lights

that will be turned on at night.

Once you are finished up here,

you can start making your way down

the other side of the Double Helix Stairway.

A lot of people ask about the torch.

In 1916, there was an explosion in New York Harbor

that damaged the statue.

Since then, they've never reopened the torch

for public access.

However, maintenance workers

still have to occasionally climb the torch.

Right at the statue's neck,

you can see the gate that gives access to the arm.

Once through here, there's a long ladder up the arm.

It's not the easiest climb.

Then onto another ladder, and at the very top,

there's a tiny door that opens up to the fresh air outside.

So hopefully, COVID restrictions will continue to ease up,

and visits will once again be allowed inside of the statue.

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(upbeat music)