Tales of the Lady 2 Trivia Quiz

Answer: New York

Lady Liberty was placed on Liberty Island in New York Harbor and dedicated in 1886. Prior to that, Liberty Island was called Bedloe's Island. It has been owned by the United States government since 1801 and previously used as a line of defense in the harbor.

It was chosen as the site because all ships that came to New York had to sail past the island - that way more people would be able to see the statue!

Answer: France

There are different stories about how the idea to build the statue began. One story is that the man who designed the statue, Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, had a conversation in 1865 with Édouard René de Laboulaye, a man who supported the Union cause during the American Civil War.

This conversation sparked an idea that France and the United States should work together to build a monument to honor freedom and independence. Another story is that Laboulaye suggested the project after the Union won the American Civil War.

Answer: Libertas

Libertas was the ancient Roman goddess of liberty. She appeared on coins during both the Republic and Empire Periods, but was an especially popular symbol at the beginning of the Republic, when the Romans overthrew the unpopular monarchy, and among freed slaves.

Her earliest known temple was constructed on the Aventine Hill in approximately 238 BC. In ancient Greece Libertas was called Eleutheria.

Answer: Gustave Eiffel

Eiffel's work on the Statue of Liberty preceded the building of his famous tower which was constructed from 1887-1889. He was contacted by Bartholdi in 1881 to complete the project because the original engineer had passed away. Previously known for his work with bridge building and constructing buildings for the Exposition Universelle in 1878, Eiffel was chosen to complete the Statue of Liberty because of his expertise in working on wind stresses.

Answer: Copper turns green due to oxidation.

The statue is made of copper, and was originally a copper color. When copper oxidizes, it turns green, a condition known as verdigris. By 1906 the entire figure was covered with verdigris. A discussion was held as some feared that the verdigris would harm the copper and thought the statue should be painted.

After it was determined that no harm had come to Lady Liberty, the interior was painted and the exterior stayed as it was.

Answer: Enlightenment

Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi called his creation "Liberty Enlightening the World". It was during the period known as the Enlightenment that scholars began to use terms such as "separation of powers", "all men are created equal", and "life, liberty, and prosperity".

These terms greatly influenced the founding fathers of the United States, and it was hoped that other nations would be influenced by the symbolism of the statue.

Answer: Seas and continents

In the Bible, seven is a represented as a perfect number. It took seven days for God to create the universe. Pope Gregory I, leader of the Roman Catholic Church published a list of the seven deadly sins in 590 AD, and ancient historians published a list of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

As far as the Statue of Liberty is concerned, however, the seven rays represent the seven seas - the Arctic, North Atlantic, South Atlantic, North Pacific, South Pacific, Indian, and Southern Oceans, along with the seven continents - Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Europe, Antarctica, and Australia.

There are some sources that say the seven rays arranged around the crown show that Lady Liberty is divine.

Answer: 1776

All of these dates are important in American history. Jamestown, the first permanent English colony in America, was founded in 1607. The U.S. Constitution was ratified in 1788 and became the law of the land the following year. In 1865 the Civil War ended.

But the Lady stands for liberty, and the Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776. In fact, the date, July 4, is also part of the inscription on the statue. The purpose of the Declaration of Independence was to explain why the founding fathers had decided to break away from Great Britain. It was issued over a year after the first battles of the American Revolution took place at Lexington and Concord.

Answer: Lady With the Lamp

The reason that the Statue of Liberty was positioned as it was in New York Harbor is because it was intended to provide a welcome for immigrants coming to the United States from other countries and to symbolize the freedom that was enjoyed by the people here.

Many of you know, of course, that the Lady With the Lamp was the nickname earned by nurse Florence Nightingale during the Crimean War.

Answer: Grover Cleveland

There was quite a celebration on the day of the dedication of the Statue of Liberty. Sources even say that the first ticker tape parade was held that day when office workers threw paper strips from stock tickers into the street as the parade drove by. President Grover Cleveland, a former governor of the state of New York, led the parade procession through the city and then watched as bands and another others marched by.

At the appropriate time he boarded a yacht that took him to the statue where he gave a speech after members of the French and American committees spoke.

The only people allowed to attend the speeches were high ranking officials, and only two people in the group were women.