<P> In a symbolic act , the first rivet placed into the skin , fixing a copper plate onto the statue 's big toe , was driven by United States Ambassador to France Levi P. Morton . The skin was not , however , crafted in exact sequence from low to high ; work proceeded on a number of segments simultaneously in a manner often confusing to visitors . Some work was performed by contractors -- one of the fingers was made to Bartholdi 's exacting specifications by a coppersmith in the southern French town of Montauban . By 1882 , the statue was complete up to the waist , an event Barthodi celebrated by inviting reporters to lunch on a platform built within the statue . Laboulaye died in 1883 . He was succeeded as chairman of the French committee by Ferdinand de Lesseps , builder of the Suez Canal . The completed statue was formally presented to Ambassador Morton at a ceremony in Paris on July 4 , 1884 , and de Lesseps announced that the French government had agreed to pay for its transport to New York . The statue remained intact in Paris pending sufficient progress on the pedestal ; by January 1885 , this had occurred and the statue was disassembled and crated for its ocean voyage . </P>
<P> In a symbolic act , the first rivet placed into the skin , fixing a copper plate onto the statue 's big toe , was driven by United States Ambassador to France Levi P. Morton . The skin was not , however , crafted in exact sequence from low to high ; work proceeded on a number of segments simultaneously in a manner often confusing to visitors . Some work was performed by contractors -- one of the fingers was made to Bartholdi 's exacting specifications by a coppersmith in the southern French town of Montauban . By 1882 , the statue was complete up to the waist , an event Barthodi celebrated by inviting reporters to lunch on a platform built within the statue . Laboulaye died in 1883 . He was succeeded as chairman of the French committee by Ferdinand de Lesseps , builder of the Suez Canal . The completed statue was formally presented to Ambassador Morton at a ceremony in Paris on July 4 , 1884 , and de Lesseps announced that the French government had agreed to pay for its transport to New York . The statue remained intact in Paris pending sufficient progress on the pedestal ; by January 1885 , this had occurred and the statue was disassembled and crated for its ocean voyage . </P>
when did france give the us the statue of liberty
when did france give the us the statue of liberty
July 4 , 1884
July 4 , 1884