The Statue of Liberty, located on Liberty Island, has been a subject of dispute between New York and New Jersey over the years. The island, which the statue stands on, has been part of a long fight between the states over their river border and the islands between them. This dispute dates back to the 1600s when England, using a larger navy and diplomacy, made the Dutch colony of New Netherland hers. The Charter splitting New Netherlands into two was not clean, leading to uncertainty about the names of everything, wrong latitude and longitude numbers, incomplete descriptions of the rivers, and more. This led to a vague mess and a long period of squabbling.
In 1832, New Jersey had enough and called in the Supreme Court. New York did not show up, saying the court had no authority to settle a disagreement between the states. The Supreme Court decided not to take the case right now, maybe later. America used some political leverage to get New York to agree to settle the matter privately with New Jersey. The two states haggled, and New Jersey gave up her claims to Staten Island and Ellis Island in return for New York agreeing that New Jersey's northern border extended into the river and down the middle, passing Ellis Island past Liberty Island, squeezing around Staten Island before going back out to sea.
In the midst of all this, America noticed Liberty Island's strategic position and took it for herself as a federal land, building a star fortress upon it. The statue was put atop an old federal fort on federal land and made a National Monument, so America owns the statue. However, Liberty Island is technically in New Jersey, making the question of where the Statue of Liberty is within New Jersey technically correct in the most pointless kind of way.
The dispute over the land below the water, Ellis Island, was settled in the 1990s. The court ruled that everything above the water was New York and everything below the water was New Jersey. However, if below became above, New Jersey would be the owner. This leaves Liberty Island, which was originally New York, now being New Jersey, with just a little original part being New York. This part hasn't been fought over yet, possibly because neither state has noticed. While it would still leave Lady Liberty on the New York side, what would be on the New Jersey side is the gift shop, the only thing more important than who owns the monument.
Here are the key facts extracted from the text:
1. The Statue of Liberty is located on Liberty Island.
2. The island has been part of a long-standing border dispute between New York and New Jersey.
3. In the 1600s, England took control of New Netherland from the Dutch colony.
4. The English split New Netherland into two parts, but the border was not clearly defined.
5. The Charter of New Netherland was vague about the names and boundaries of the land.
6. New Jersey claimed that its border ran down the middle of the Hudson River.
7. New York disagreed and claimed that the entire river and its islands belonged to them.
8. The dispute was taken to the Supreme Court in 1832, but New York refused to participate.
9. The case was eventually settled privately between the two states.
10. New Jersey gave up its claims to Staten Island, and in return, New York agreed that New Jersey's northern border extended into the river.
11. The border was drawn to pass through Ellis Island and Liberty Island.
12. New Jersey gave up Ellis Island and Liberty Island to New York.
13. The Statue of Liberty was a gift from France to the United States.
14. The statue was placed on federal land on Liberty Island.
15. The island was originally smaller but was expanded through landfill.
16. The Supreme Court ruled that everything above the water on Ellis Island belonged to New York, while everything below the water belonged to New Jersey.
17. Liberty Island was also expanded through landfill, but the exact origin of the new land is unknown.
18. The border between New York and New Jersey is still disputed, with some areas of Liberty Island potentially belonging to New Jersey.