The Statue of Liberty was brought to the United States by the French people as a gift, designed by the French sculptor Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi and built on a metal framework designed by the French engineer Gustave Eiffel. It was intended as a symbol of the French-American alliance, which emerged during the American Revolution, the French reverence for freedom, and the American value of democracy. The French paid for the statue, while the Americans paid for the pedestal on which the statue rests through various fundraising efforts.