December 23, 2009

Protection And Care Of An Ancient Document

This description of how the original Declaration of Independence is cared for when it has to be moved about is fascinating.  The author does not indicate but I presume that he refers to the actual document that was written in Jefferson's own hand after the markups by the Continental Congress.  While the Declaration of Independence is not a legal document, it is of tremendous historical and political significance.  And, more to the point, the article is symbolically very powerful.  If the Declaration is a symbol of our freedom and our liberties, it is entirely appropriate that the government take such elaborate precautions to safeguard it.  And, it is also fitting to notice how fragile this object really is.

1 comment:

Friendly Technocrat said...

I agree that every effort should be made to protect and preserve the original, but let's not forget that the most important thing to protect is not the paper itself, but the idea and the spirit of the text.