Do the words on statue of Liberty rule anything?
Old words have power
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Old words have no power
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There is a very big difference between a poem and a law or policy. Poetry is not mentioned as a legal basis for public policy in any of the Articles or Amendments of the US Constitution. The Emma Lazarus poem The New Colossus is a nice poem, and it is well written, but it is often mistaken as representative of American values, national policy goals, or what the statue commemorates. It is not even a particularly apt choice for the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty, considering the poem is not primarily about freedom. Consider the context. The Statue of Liberty was given to the US by France to commemorate the Centennial of the Declaration of Independence. The gift was not related to immigration in any way, nor was the statue meant to do so. It is not the Statue of Immigration. The association of the Statue of Liberty with immigration resulted from it being a prominent feature seen by immigrants approaching Ellis Island from the late 19th century to the mid 20th century. Although the Statue was dedicated in 1886, the poem was not engraved on the pedestal until 1903. Side: Old words have no power
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