The dinner party took place in 1865. Six years later, Bartholdi began work on the statue. Two things had kept him from starting.
First, France was under the rule of Napoleon III, who didn’t want to celebrate liberty. Second, in 1870, France and Germany began fighting the Franco-Prussian War, and Bartholdi had signed up for the war.
The Franco-Prussian war ended in 1871. Bartholdi went back to thinking about the monument. Laboulaye asked him to travel to the U.S. to see the country. He also wanted Bartholdi to find out what the American people thought about the idea of the statue.
On June 8, 1871, Bartholdi sailed to New York. Many people on the ship were looking for a new life in America. As the ship approached New York, they climbed on deck. They couldn’t wait to get their first look at America. Bartholdi felt the same way. As he looked out, he saw Bedloe’s Island guarding the entrance to New York Harbor. That’s when Bartholdi knew he had found the perfect home for his statue.