Americas Rich History - Assignment Example

When you think of America, what comes to your mind? If there is any object that could symbolize America itself, what do you think it would be? Would it be the Flag? or the Washington monument? If you hear the name George Washington or Abraham Lincoln, do you think of America? America is perceived by so many in different ways. People all over the world, when they hear the word America, think only of two things -- 1. a super world power which always intervenes in everything, 2. a land of great opportunities. Generations today might find the names George Washington and Abraham Lincoln familiar and surely would find their stories interesting, but would it really spark their interest? When we speak of being an American, what do we really mean? What is it really that we hold true in our hearts as an American? Of course, when we speak of America, only 1 word comes into our mind – Power, simply because America is regarded as a super power but is that what America is all about? With America’s rich history and with the many developments brought about by commerce and technology, America has evolved and survived numerous challenges, especially the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center. There are a lot of things that could symbolize America. There is the Liberty Bell, the Washington monument, the American flag, the American bald Eagle; of course George Washington and Abraham Lincoln and many others; even 1 American dollar could be an icon, but among all these, which one does embody America in its truest sense? Among all the possible things that were mentioned above, there is only 1 thing that I can think of that truly symbolizes the Americans’ hopes and dreams and this is the Statue of Liberty. The Statue of Liberty captures the interest of people around the world both young and old. It gives an overwhelming feeling of awe and happiness whenever the statue is seen from the airplane. The Statue of Liberty was a gift of the people of France to the people of America in the year 1886, a magnificent symbol of their friendship because if it were not for the French army, ships, money and men sent to the American colonies, America could not have won its freedom from the British during the American Revolution. Some Frenchmen, most notably the Marquis de Lafayette, a close friend of George Washington, even became high-ranking officers in the American army. It was an alliance of respect and friendship that the French would not forget. It also symbolizes America and France’s joint effort to complete this huge project – the pedestal by the Americans and the statue by France. Sculptor Frederic Auguste Bartholdi was assigned to design the sculpture and finish it in 1876 to commemorate the centennial of the American Declaration of Independence. The plan did not go on smoothly as we initially thought. There was a problem with funding. Both France and America raised funds in their own ways. France raised the money needed for the construction through public fees, entertainment and lottery as among the few of the methods used, while in America, there was even greater difficulty raising the funds as people were not that willing to donate. So, Joseph Pulitzer (of the Pulitzer Prize) supported the project by opening his newspaper’s editorial page ‘The World’ and used it to criticize both the rich who had failed to finance the pedestal construction and the middle class who were content to rely upon the wealthy to provide the funds. This strategy came out to be successful in motivating and persuading Americans to donate. The plan of constructing the pedestal (for the statue of liberty) was not fully put to action until August 1885 and was completed on April the following year. In June 1885, on board the French frigate "Isere", the Statue of Liberty arrived in New York harbor from France. The French were able to complete the construction of the statue on April 1886. To be able to transport it, the French needed to reduce the statue 350 individual pieces and packed in 214 crates and just reassembled it within four months on her new pedestal. The dedication of the new structure took place infront of hundreds of spectators on October 28, 1886. The National Park Service commemorates the anniversary of the Statue of Liberty on October 28th every year. Until today, Americans commemorate this friendship and celebrate it with the same intensity as before. The Statue of Liberty is the most prominent and dominant figure reminding us of Americas history as well as its promise for the future. It holds all of our aspirations. A reminder to us all Americans, that we are here to do our best to live life to the fullest, not only taking care of our self and our family but also of others. This means that Americans value relationships and trust. We value it so much that we should even be able to trust ourselves. Why? We should be able to trust ourselves to do our job right, to love our family and take care of them; we must be able to trust ourselves to be honest in our dealings with others, to tell the truth. To trust ourselves to make promises and commitments that we can keep for this is who we are – a people of great potential and respect for oneself and others. A patriot who honors his word, and stands by his principles. America values its voice, which is why we, as Americans are encouraged to speak up to defend what we think is right, to give our opinions regarding issues, to protect our families and interest, to protect and save lives. We, as Americans value our voice to protect our life, family, marriage, faith and freedom. If this is so, how does the Statue of Liberty embody all of these that we value? The Statue of Liberty’s design did not come out from thin air, the design was carefully thought of as this will be the symbol between the great relationship that France has with America. Ten symbols make up the statue of Liberty, which can be seen. The first one is the Torch symbolizes light or enlightenment for being enlightened is the key to achieve freedom; for without seeing freedom, one cannot obtain it. In fact, the Statue’s real name means "Liberty Enlightening the World". In 1984, this torch was taken and was replaced with a new flame in 1986 on the Statues 100th birthday. The new flame is copper, guilded in 24kt. gold. It is now lighted by reflection of the sun during the day and by 16 floodlights at night. The original torch of the statue of liberty (1876-1984) is located in the lobby of the monument. The second is the Crown has seven (7) spikes which represent the seven (7) continents of the world, reinforcing the universal concept of liberty. The Tablet, the third one, on the statue’s left hand represents the book of law simply because a nation is based on law, without it, there would only be chaos. The statue’s writing, the fourth symbol, is also significant because the writing states the day America achieved its freedom. The fifth is the windows in the crown which also mean something. There are 25 windows which represent the heavens rays of light that shine over the 7 seas and continents. Did you know that the tablet’s shape is also important, making up the sixth symbol? Who would ever thought that it could mean something? The shape of the tablet is called a keystone. If a keystone is defined in architecture as the stone that keeps the other stones together, for a nation, the keystone is its laws. In a nation without law, freedom and democracy will not prevail. If you take a good look at the Statue of Liberty, it is not standing still, it seems as though she is taking a step forward wearing a pair of sandals. The seventh symbol, the sandals, suggest that she is a person with a free stature. Moving forward, lighting the path through peace and not violence, and her free-flowing robe (the eight symbol) was inspired from the Roman goddess ‘Libertas’ which was worshiped by the freed slaves. Among the many already relevant ‘parts’ of the statue, there is also the broken chains and shields (ninth and tenth symbols respectively). The broken chain at the statue’s feet is a symbol of being free from bondage; the shields at each side of the pedestal symbolizes the states in the union. The Statue of Liberty is a symbol of freedom, hard work, genius, friendships, and democracy. Isn’t this what we all strive to achieve? America didn’t come out to be as it is today centuries ago. People fought and died to build a nation, we now know as America. People from different walks of life, blacks and whites alike, from far and wide, fought to be free to be a part of what we now call ‘the United States of America’. It was not an easy road to freedom and democracy but it was achieved. The statue of Liberty embodies all that we think about what America is. It is the land of the free, with greener pastures, giving hope for the hopeless and justice for all. It is the embodiment of the universal human desire to be free. If we think and contemplate on the word ‘freedom’ are we truly free? We are now in the 21st century where information technology rules, a time when everything is accessible and digital. We have cellular phones, laptops, internet cafes, fast food chains, mega malls and different modes of transportation. Air transport is even available even to the remotest areas in the world. All these are products of man’s brilliant mind and his pursuit of science to make our life easier and fast-paced so that we can accomplish more. Yet, we are still lagging behind with more controversies and civil unrest than the last decade and discontent. We are tied down with our jobs (not that they are unimportant), material things, and other worldly caprices to the extent that unconsciously, we are already neglecting the things and people that are dear to us. There are even times when we think so highly of ourselves that we tend to put others down. Some of us are even enslaved by competitiveness – the desire to be always on top even at the expense of others. We speak of freedom and yet we are enslaved by our own prejudices. Because of our great desire for material things, can’t even make our own schedule for a family get together, we are not free to teach our children and help them with homework, because more often than not, we work late. We work late and hold more than one job because of money. Although it is a decent job, it leaves us no time to live... no time for our loved ones...not even to ourselves. We are also enslaved by modern technology that we tend to depend on our computers to store simple dates, like birthdays and anniversaries; calculators are often used even by grade-schoolers, because they find it very taxing to multiply, add or subtract numbers. Sending letters through mail with our own handwriting has gone obsolete, we even call it the snail mail, because of electronic mail or e-mail. You might wonder, what does all these has got to do with the Statue of Liberty and being an American? These might appear to be simple things, because they really are simple things, but they are simple things which are of value. Like the snail mail for instance, this mail is more valuable than the e-mail, true e-mails are faster but isnt it that when you write a letter to your friend, family or relative, you always choose the paper with which to write on? We make sure that we write the letter as best and as organized as we could, whether it be a good news or a bad news? Such type of letters are more personalized. Its as if when the recipient opens the letter, it is you who is standing there delivering the words. Now that we are free and with all the technology and knowledge we possess, we became lazy and indifferent to the issues that concerns us. There is this certain detachment to relationships and other people. We are so conscious about time that we forget even to stop and breath and smell the roses. Unless, we experience heat wave, we will not be ‘enlightened’ about the way that we treat the environment and use our natural resources. In spite of being free, having the knowledge and the means we are still in bondage. Enslaved by worldly things, our prejudices, by technology and by greed. Is this really what America is today? Being considered as a super power and with the U.S. intervention in Iraq and other countries, it seems like America always wants to be in the limelight, showing off. Showing how powerful its weapons and soldiers are at combat, as shown in the many was movies which are based on true events and news commentaries like Tears of the Sun and Shock and Awe respectively. Other people might perceive it negatively but as I understand it, America only wanted freedom not only for themselves but for people around the world. Standing at the sidelines watching the events happen, without feeling, reflecting and thinking about it would result to even more chaos; and chaos is something that we couldn’t allow to happen. As I understand it America is doing all these because it feels that it has the responsibility to take under its wings those who are weak and in need of help. One might think that asking for help is a sign of weakness. On the contrary, it isnt. A truly brave man is not afraid to tell the truth, hence not afraid to ask help. Being one (if not the most)of the powerful countries of the world, it has the responsibility to help others be enlightened. Enlightened to the truth that killings, war, injustices and abusive treatments (like the ones in Iraq) are not something to be tolerated. That it is inhuman and it has to stop. The Statue of Liberty is indeed a symbol of freedom, democracy and great friendship, but could it symbolize something else other than those? The story of how the Statue of Liberty came to be constructed is a very moving and inspiring one. Who could ever imagine that because of the great relationship between two countries and between two people who don’t speak the same language such relationship is possible? But there is also a different side of the story behind the Statue of Liberty. Unlike most of us think, early Americans were not really supportive about the project. Many just shrugged a cold shoulder, some questioned it, while some criticized and complained about it. A lot of people – all Americans did not like the idea because they find the cost of building it expensively absurd. Some even commented that since it will be built in the city of New York, why not let them pay for it themselves? See, who we have reacted on this particular instance? It is indeed very shameful to have displayed such bad attitude. If this have happened, would there still be America or United States of America? The behavior only suggests that we dont really want to be united, that we are selfish and greedy, that we dont care about the rest of the others. A centennial gift ten years late but lived another century to bring hope, equality and justice to mankind. Now it stand tall for all the world to see. Not to boast, but to be a living reminder of the lessons from the events of the past that hope, justice and democracy has been achieved and should be kept with great care. Yes, America is indeed truly a great and powerful nation. Its people are lucky to have it as its motherland but just like what Peter Parkers uncle said “with great power, comes great responsibility.” Just like the Statue, let us free ourselves from worldly things, from prejudices and injustice because this is not who we are... these are not the things that we value. The Statue of Liberty could have been nothing but it has the spirit of every American carries the hopes and dreams of humanity, it has been a magnificent symbol of justice and democracy. As Victor Hugo puts it "To the sculptor form is everything and is nothing. It is nothing without the spirit - with the idea it is everything." It meets the challenges of the present and of the future, with unwavering certainty of victory. A vivid reminder that as one, we can accomplish anything and with justice and fairness there is peace. The statue of Liberty is a work of a genius of a few visionaries but the concept she represents speaks to the minds and resonates in the hearts of ordinary men and women all over the world; and that is what America is. The Statue of Liberty stands 151 feet tall, approximately 225 tons of copper over steel, and 89 feet tall granite pedestal – to all the people of the world, this is what America is - a solid and lasting vision of hope, justice and democracy. BIBLIOGRAPHY [1] Home of American Park Network © 2007 APN Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved. [2] The National Park Service. Statue of Liberty National Monument and Ellis Island. nps government archive. Last Revised: June 28, 2006.Retrieved: 17 Nov 2007 Read More