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Second Design for the Statue of Freedom
In his second draft for the design of the Statue of Freedom Thomas Crawford sculpted a graceful figure in a classical dress wearing a liberty cap encircled with stars, holding a shield, wreath, and sword, which he said represented Armed Liberty.
It was sent to Secretary of War Jefferson Davis, who was in charge of the overall construction at the Capitol. Davis objected to the liberty cap, the symbol of freed slaves, because “its history renders it inappropriate to a people who were born free and should not be enslaved.” Davis suggested a helmet with a circle of stars, which Crawford incorporated in the final design. Original public domain image from Flickr
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