(2) Frenchman Edouard deLaboulaye first proposed the idea of the Statue of Liberty for the UnitedStates in 1865. Ten years later sculptor Frederic Auguste Bartholdi was commissioned to design a sculpture with 1876 in mind for completion, to commemorate the centennial of the AmericanDeclaration of Independence. TheStatue was named “LibertyEnlightening the World” and was a joint effort between America andFrance.