How a Slave Had to Build the Freedom Statue in Washington DC

The Statue of Freedom sitting atop the dome of the U.S. Capitol building in Washing D.C. has more substitute names than the obscure half of the Wu Tang Clan . Over the yr , the name ascribe to it have ranged from thing like “ Freedom Triumphant in War and Peace ” to the far simple , “ Armed Freedom ” . However , the one , unwashed thread is that the statue is theorize to stand for the very smell of freedom itself . Ironically enough , it was a hard worker who was integral in get together it .

Lady Freedom stand at just unsure of 20 substructure and weighs in inordinateness of a scale shatter 15,000 pounds . She carries a sword , a shield and a laurel wreath ; exemption is a lady you would n’t desire to mess with .

Freedom ’s helmet is also noteworthy ; earlier Thomas U. Walter envisioned a 16 foot high statue hold a liberty cap ( the historical symbol for freed slaves ) , even sketching designs for such a statue . When Thomas Crawford was commissioned to design a statue to sit atop the dome in 1855 his preliminary sketches and estimate also featured a female figure wearing or holding a liberty cap .

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Prior to that , however , Crawford had envision a much simpler statue of a distaff figure wearing a coronal and a laurel . However , when Montgomery Meigs , the Construction Superintendent of the Capitol , charge Crawford plans for the bean , he realised his statue need to be much bigger . In response , Crawford outline up plan for yet another distaff figure bear the conversant coronal , sword and shield combowearing a liberty cap embrace in star .

Upon seeing this pattern let in the symbolization for emancipated slave , succeeding Confederate president and slaveholder Jefferson Davis , the guy oversee building , objected to the inclusion of a liberty jacket crown . Davis stated that the liberty chapiter ’s “ history give it inappropriate to a people who were born free and should not be enslaved ” . He ordered that the figure be transfer .

For his net idea , Crawford quarrel the liberty cap , as per Davis ’ postulation , and alternatively give Freedom the eagle adorned Roman war helmet she wears to this day . As with everything else , the helmet is emblematic ; besides being a symbol of state of war , its intention is evocative of the headdresses of the Native American citizenry who called America their home first .

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So where does a hard worker come into this ? Well , Crawford accidentally dropped stagnant in 1857 just after finishing the full size plasterwork model of Freedom . Since Crawford was in Rome , the task of shipping the statue fall to his widow woman . The statue itself would n’t get to America until 1859 , two years by and by . On arrival , it was in haste stuck together by an nameless Italian carver so that it could be look up to before casting . A year later , in 1960 , a local metalworks possessor and statue maker , Clark Mills , was award the declaration to call on Freedom into a in full - feather bronze statue .

However , there was one small problem ; no one cognise where the joints in the statue were , as they were now hide by a layer of plasterwork . Since Crawford was bushed , any equipment casualty to the statue whatsoever was utterly out of the question . When Mills go about the Italian carver who ’d originally assemble and plastered Freedom , the statue maker said he ’d happily tell Mills where the joints were , for a monetary value .

Although Mills was being devote handsomely for his workplace ( $ 400 per calendar month , or about $ 10,000 today ) , and besides that his cost were being foot by the government , he decided pass up on the Italian sculptor ’s offer and to figure it out on his own . This is where his hard worker , Philip Reid , came in .

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Reid was one of Mills ’ most trusted workman and after look at the statue for a few bit , Reid advise a simple mode of find out where the joint were . The result he came up with was to attach a rope to the statue ’s headspring and very softly pull till the seams were revealed . This worked , and they were able to disassemble the statue without the Italian statue maker ’s help .

Reid did n’t just help with finding the joints ; he also worked at the metalworks where Freedom was throw up . Due to being a slave , though , Reid was only paid for his working on Sundays . Of course , the political science still subsidised Mills for the other 6 days his striver , Reid , work .

By all accounts , Reid was a talented individual . Due to his skills and work - ethic ( working 33 Sundays the year the statue was cast , besides the other six days of the week ) , he pull off to earn more than his non - slave co - worker on those daytime he was yield , $ 1.25 per Clarence Shepard Day Jr. ( about $ 31.95 today ) compare to the $ 1 per daylight everyone else was being paid . As far as the documented phonograph record indicate , Reid was the only slave working on this particular statue .

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Reid was also implemental in the first bronze statue ever stray in the whole of the United States , that of Andrew Jackson depend on a horse . As a testament to their ingeniousness , Reid and Mills accomplished this withoutany stately training in bronze molding . In fact , it was the success of this casting that secured Mills the Freedom mission in the first berth .

Though he was a slave for much of the time the statue was being designed and cast , when it was lastly place atop the Capitol Building on December 2 , 1863 , Reid was a free man thanks to Congress transcend an enactment get rid of involuntary servitude in Washington D.C. Lincoln signed this act on April 16 , 1862 . When this materialize , Mills attempt to get recompense for the loss of Reid from the government state , Reid was “ aged 42 geezerhood , mullatto [ sic ] color , curt in statue , in unspoiled health , not prepossessing in appearance but saucy in mind , a skillful workman in a metalworks . ” Mills asked for $ 1,500 ( about $ 34,000 today ) , but only received $ 350.40 .

One of the last piece of documentation concerning Reid comes from 1865 , and it just says , “ Mr Reid , the former striver , is now in business for himself [ as a plasterer ] , and highly esteemed by all who live him “ . We presume they forgot to add together , “ It ’s about time ” .

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