The statue of liberty. Welcome to the USA

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THE STATUE OF LIBERTY

WELCOME TO THE USA

Imagine leaving home forever to ive in America. You say goodbye to your family and Friends for the last time. The you travel thousands of miles across the Atlantic Oca non a boat full of immigrants. The firts thin you see when you arrive in the United States is a tall woman holding a torch. She is a symbol of freedom, welcoming you tu your new home. She is the Statue of Liberty.

The French Connection.

The Satue of Liberty is one of the most famous monuments in the world. It´s was designed bye a Frenchman, Frederic Auguste Bartholdi, and it was a gift from the people of France to the people of America. The statue was built in France and then shipped to the United States. In October 1886 the Americans installed the statue on Liberty Island in New York Harbor. She still stands there today.

A symbol.

Millions of immigrants arrived in America by boat in the late 19th and early 20th century. The first thing many of them saw was the Statue of Liberty, wich is enormous. The statue 46 metres high put so is the plinth, the structure underneath wich supports it. The entire monument is 93 metres highand weighs more tan 2000 tonnes. The statue is of a female figure representing Libertas, The Roman goddess of freedom. She wearing a rope and a Crown with seven spikes.

Independence.

The seven spikes represent the seven oceans and seven continents of the world. In her right hand, the statue is holding a torch. In her left hand, she is holding a Tablet inscribed with the date of the American Declaration of Independence, July 4th 1776. A broken chain lies at her feet: this represents freedom from oppression.

Tourism.

If you want to visit the statue, you have to take a ferry from Manhattan to Liberty Island. Unfortunately, since the 9/11 attacks, officials have restricted accesss to the statue. They now allow only 240 people a day to climb the 354 steps insides the statue to look out of the 25 windows in her Crown. If you want to clim the steps, you have to buy a special ticket up to a year in advance.

Real Life.

Many people who visit the statue also visit Ellis Island. The island was the countries’ busiest immigrat inspection station from 1892 until 1954. It is now home to an Immigration Museum, wich has photographs and videos of early immigrants. Intis way you can experience what it was like to ve one of them.

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