<P> Bartholdi was inspired by a French law professor and politician, Édouard René de Laboulaye, who is said to have commented in 1865 that any monument raised to U.S. independence would properly be a joint project of the French and American peoples . Because of the post-war instability in France, work on the statue did not commence until the early 1870s . In 1875, Laboulaye proposed that the French finance the statue and the U.S. provide the site and build the pedestal . Bartholdi completed the head and the torch - bearing arm before the statue was fully designed, and these pieces were exhibited for publicity at international expositions . </P> <P> The torch - bearing arm was displayed at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia in 1876, and in Madison Square Park in Manhattan from 1876 to 1882 . Fundraising proved difficult, especially for the Americans, and by 1885 work on the pedestal was threatened by lack of funds . Publisher Joseph Pulitzer, of the New York World, started a drive for donations to finish the project and attracted more than 120,000 contributors, most of whom gave less than a dollar . The statue was built in France, shipped overseas in crates, and assembled on the completed pedestal on what was then called Bedloe's Island . The statue's completion was marked by New York's first ticker - tape parade and a dedication ceremony presided over by President Grover Cleveland . </P> <P> The statue was administered by the United States Lighthouse Board until 1901 and then by the Department of War; since 1933 it has been maintained by the National Park Service . Public access to the balcony around the torch has been barred for safety since 1916 . </P> <P> According to the National Park Service, the idea for the Statue of Liberty was first proposed by Édouard René de Laboulaye the president of the French Anti-Slavery Society and a prominent and important political thinker of his time . The project is traced to a mid-1865 conversation between de Laboulaye, a staunch abolitionist and Frédéric Bartholdi, a sculptor . In after - dinner conversation at his home near Versailles, Laboulaye, an ardent supporter of the Union in the American Civil War, is supposed to have said: "If a monument should rise in the United States, as a memorial to their independence, I should think it only natural if it were built by united effort--a common work of both our nations ." The National Park Service, in a 2000 report, however, deemed this a legend traced to an 1885 fundraising pamphlet, and that the statue was most likely conceived in 1870 . In another essay on their website, the Park Service suggested that Laboulaye was minded to honor the Union victory and its consequences, "With the abolition of slavery and the Union's victory in the Civil War in 1865, Laboulaye's wishes of freedom and democracy were turning into a reality in the United States . In order to honor these achievements, Laboulaye proposed that a gift be built for the United States on behalf of France . Laboulaye hoped that by calling attention to the recent achievements of the United States, the French people would be inspired to call for their own democracy in the face of a repressive monarchy ." </P>

When did they build the statue of liberty