ComposingAmerica

Going off of the ideas from the article "The Real Declaration" by Thomas Starr, I find it interesting how my views differ when reading typography versus reading calligraphy. When I think about The Declaration of Independence and the forefathers of our country, I picture wise men debating. I think about how they put all of their "rough drafts" and different ideas together and that morphed into the document that remains our countries foundation. The fact that the original document was written out instead of being printed out, to me, makes it more personal. The people of the United States had something to say. They were united as one person and it was time for things to start changing. The fact that everyone had formed all of their ideas into a document in Old English with perfect grammar made the argument very convincing. I think that had it been typography, it would be less personal. For example, when I made my thank you cards for people that attended my graduation party, I could have easily typed out one card and made copies to send out to everyone on the guest list. Instead, I made a personal letter for everyone that had been to my party. This way, they would know that I took the time to personalize their thank you letter. In the same sense, a professional document that was written as the basis of the United States' basic principles is more personal because it is printed in handwriting and signed by the forefathers of America.