Did the U.S. give the Eiffel Tower to France in exchange for the Statue of Liberty?
No; that’s an urban legend. The Eiffel Tower was partially funded by the French government as a key attraction for the International Exposition of 1889; the rest of the cost was covered by granting the proceeds from admissions to the company that built it (Gustave Eiffel’s structural engineering and construction firm) for a period of years. The Statue of Liberty was a gift from philanthropists in France to the United States. It was privately funded by a variety of fund-raising events, although it took a long time to raise the necessary money. The cost was shared, with the pedestal upon which the statue stands being paid for by Americans, and the statue itself being paid for by the French. As far as I know, no government funds went into it (originally). The two things these structures have in common is that they were both built around the same time (1885 and 1889 for the statue and tower, respectively), and the structural metalwork for both was done by Gustave Eiffel’s company: he built
