WRONG!!!! The Suez lighthouse drawing was NOT the Statue of Liberty! The Statue of Liberty was designed for New York harbor as a symbol of friendship between France and America.
I disagree .
It is clear to me that the designer had an idea. It started with a muslim woman in a harbor. That theme carried out and he changed the story line until he got his project built. And yes, it appears at one point it was based on a black woman as he progressed. But the whole thing started with a Veiled Muslim peasant.
Oh ...and Eiffel didn’t come up with the idea as you indicated.
https://ourladyliberty.wordpress.com/2009/07/01/lady-liberty-what%E2%80%99s-in-a-face-part-2/