Declaration Of Independence Essay

593 Words3 Pages

The Declaration of independence is the most important document in United States History. It sits in the Smithsonian Museum in Washington DC, where millions of people come to visit it year after year. The problem recently has been the legibleness of the rapidly fading ink. This is one just one example of ink fading out of documents. It is a problem, because there is no solution to make ink more permanent. Currently there are conferences that go on a couple times a year, that go on in New York City that focuses on the overall conservation of art, and ink longevity is a major topic. Based on an article in live science, the founding fathers are lucky to have to document last that long. That is because they used iron pink. The iron ink soaks into …show more content…

The glass case it is in also blocks UV light; which could lead to the ink being dark enough to read for a couple of more years. The security programs are also programed to report any abnormality in the case. After doing some research I came across an article about people preserving important letters they had received. One of the things that was suggested is putting the letter in an acid-free environment. The author suggested that an acid environment is bad along with heat, light, and adhesives to name a few. Then they should make sure that they don’t store the document in either the attic or the basement. This is because in both places, they are susceptible to unstably in humidity, and moisture in the air. One of the oldest inks, that exists in the India ink. It was developed in the 3rd century BC, and can be found in ink shops today. The ink is well known for its carbon base, with mortars and glue to hold it all together. Unlike its name, India Ink was actually developed in China, before it started being exported to India, where it was later mass produced there. Today, fountain pens are generally where you will find this ancient ink. The carbon based ink, lasts longer than most inks due to its carbon base. It is also water and weather proof in its early stages. It does not fade out as quickly as some of the other inks that are