France gifted the Statue of Liberty to the United States in 1881 to commemorate the alliance between France and the U.S. during the American Revolution. Edouard de Laboulaye hatched the idea in 1865 and recruited sculptor Auguste Bartholdi to create the monument. At the time, violence and revolution interpreted liberty, but their vision was to create “Liberty Enlightening the World” with liberty, justice, and democracy. The project was officially adopted in 1871, with construction beginning in September 1875. The framework of the statue was constructed by Gustave Eiffel, the creator of the Eiffel Tower. The statue was erected in France, disassembled, crated, and shipped to New York, where it was reassembled on what was then called Bedloe’s Island.