“The Real Declaration” by Thomas Starr
Message Prompt

The Declaration of Independence has been written in calligraphy as well as typography. While the document may remain the same, there are different ideas behind the Declaration depending on which style it is written in. Starr believes that calligraphy idealizes handwriting but is not legible to all who read it. Typography, however, idealizes letters and is much clearer. He also feels that calligraphy implies a single author while typography implies multiple authors. The National Archive displays the text in calligraphy. This may be because it makes the document look more authentic and plausible. Calligraphy written on parchment gives the document a more artistic look all while making it seem more real to the viewer.

Starr seems to prefer typography over calligraphy. He feels that because typography consists of different authors, it is thus collective and democratic. The Declaration of Independence was a group effort. There were different people involved in its writing, different people in its audience, and several different ideas within it. It became a combined effort, and united people. It was a symbol for democracy. Therefore, because it is considered democratic by Starr, typography is the best way to represent the Declaration. The manuscript of the first draft, containing all of the revisions, would further enforce this idea of democracy and collectivity. The manuscript shows the ideas originally expressed by someone and then altered by another person. It shows how several different people worked together to make the Declaration of Independence the best it could be. It would further enhance the idea that it was created by several authors as opposed to just one.