Why do people come to America?

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Welcoming all those who are "yearning to be free"
Lady Liberty and Our Boundless
Land of Opportunity
Imagine, you are on a moving ship - tired, far from home, and possibly seasick. Your long journey is finally over. However, ahead a woman rises above the water, holding a torch aloft to welcome you to a new land: the United States of America.

On this day in 1884, the cornerstone for the Statue of Liberty was laid on Bedloe's Island (now Liberty Island) in New York Harbor.

The iconic statue, a gift from the French in 1865, was given to honor the end of slavery and the realization of a more perfect union.

Lady Liberty quickly became a symbol of American freedom and democracy for immigrants entering the United States through New York City.

The statue stands as a dedication, not only to the friendship between France and America, but to the freedom and opportunity that immigrants came to find in a foreign land. Lady Liberty holds a tablet inscribed with "July 4, 1776," the birth of our country and adoption day of the Declaration of Independence. Today, she still stands tall as a proud welcome to the land of opportunity.

A Gift from the French to Celebrate the End of Slavery
Lady Liberty was given to honor the vision for America laid out in the Declaration of Independence — that all men are created equal.

The French historian Edouard de Laboulaye ([link removed]) originally proposed an American monument as the Civil War came to a close – the largest challenge to American unity and freedom in our history. To celebrate the end of slavery, sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi symbolically included broken shackles ([link removed]) at Lady Liberty's feet.
The statue was an international collaboration, with the French building and transporting the statue and the Americans constructing its pedestal.

New Significance
By Fall 1886, the Statue of Liberty was complete. For 6 years, the statue stood as a New York attraction. When Ellis Island opened nearby in 1892, it became much more.

Over six decades, millions of immigrants passed Lady Liberty on their way to a new beginning. Many of these immigrants came for a better life ([link removed]) , fleeing from persecution, violence, famine, poverty, and a general lack of opportunity.

Opportunity & the Immigrant Dream
America offered freedom – freedom of speech, freedom of religion, stable government, and the opportunity to work one's way to prosperity. The persecuted found refuge and the poor, the freedom to better their lives.
New beginnings were not easy, but with hard work and perseverance, immigrants made the most of this opportunity to better themselves and their families.

Lady Liberty came to symbolize this opportunity, these new beginnings. Immigrants not only improved their own lives, but their determination opened the door to their children, providing opportunities to flourish for generations to come. Today, roughly 40% of Americans ([link removed]) can trace their roots to an Ellis Island immigrant.
A Testament to Valuable Freedoms
Emma Lazarus's poem, "The New Colossus" was written during fundraising efforts for the project and ultimately was installed as a plaque on the Statue of Liberty in 1903. The poem further linked this symbol of American liberty with the aspirations of immigrants:

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

- "The New Colossus"
Emma Lazarus
November 2, 1883

We still look to the Statue of Liberty as a reminder of the American principles of self-government and equality that we work to preserve, as well as the bravery of immigrants that come to our country seeking these freedoms.

At JMC, we work toward the fulfillment of our founding principles by reinvigorating civics education and equipping educators to further pursue these ideals. It is all of our responsibility to uphold the principles and freedom that Lady Liberty represents and ensure that the nation remains a place where all may "breathe free."

To learn more about supporting our work, see below.
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The battle for the soul of our nation will be won or lost in our classrooms ™ — Jack Miller

Our history shows we did not always live up to the ideals enshrined in our founding documents. But the way forward is for our citizens to appreciate those ideals, recognize our failures and successes in upholding them, and continue to carry those principles forward. And that is why we believe education is so important.

The Jack Miller Center works to revitalize education in America’s history and its founding principles. Our goal is that every student learns the ideas that informed the founding of our nation so that they may preserve our freedoms for future generations.

Consider a tax-deductible gift to the Jack Miller Center. Your donation, large or small, is an investment in the future of our country—for you, for your children, for your grandchildren.
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About the Jack Miller Center
The Jack Miller Center is a 501(c)(3) public charity with the mission to reinvigorate education in America's founding principles and history. We work to advance the teaching and study of America's history, its political and economic institutions, and the central principles, ideas and issues arising from the American and Western traditions—all of which continue to animate our national life.

We support professors and educators through programs, resources, fellowships and more to help them teach our nation's students.
www.jackmillercenter.org

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