The Statue of Liberty was designed by Frederic Auguste Bartholdi. He was a French sculptor, who was originally from the Alsace region near the German border. He studied architecture and then painting in Paris, but then turned his attention to sculpture. His artistic career was interrupted when he joined the army in the 1870s and fought against Germany in the Franco-Prussian war.

At about this time a group was set up to promote friendship between France and the USA, by Eduoard de Laboulaye, a philosopher whose ideas about liberty were a major influence on Bartholdi. He was also a member of the group, and was chosen to create a statue to show solidarity between the two countries. In 1871 he went to the US to find a suitable place for the statue and decided on New York Harbour. In 1874 the group started formally raising money and organising the creation of the statue, on which Bartholi was already working. It was completed in 1886. The pedestal was supplied by the US, though public donations.