If writing didn't have the power to enact social change, then why do people write books? Why do politicians create documents that can do anything from declare independence to enforce laws? Why do historical figures write about their experiences and leave them behind for us? Why are millions upon millions of newspapers printed each day? Why do websites such as myspace, facebook, xanga, and even blogspot exist? If writing can't procure social metamorphosis, then why write at all? Plain and simple, this is done because writing does indeed enact change, period. It has done it plenty of times in history, over and over again.

Nearly 4, 000 years ago, King Hammerabi of Babylon inscribed 282 laws on a large stone monument for all to see, basing his rules on the Law of Retaliation philosophy.

In the late 1500s, five of the nations in western New York- the Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, and Mohawk- formed an alliance known as the Iroquois League.

Sometime after Hernan Cortes arrived in Tenochtilan in 1519, both Cortes himself and an Aztec inscribed their views of the events that took place on the turning point of Cortes's invasion on paper and left their views to the world.

In January, 1776, Thomas Paine published a lively and persuasive pamphlet called Common Sense for his fellow Patriots.

Between June 11 and June 28, 1776, Thomas Jefferson drafted the Declaration of Independence, our nation's most cherished symbol of liberty.

And what exactly was the aftermath of these situations? Hammerabi enforced those laws because the preface of the stele the laws were written on suggest that he was chosen by the gods install some discipline into his people, moreover based off of codes he agreed upon being moral. And these morals were exactly what people followed. The Iroquois League existed in hopes of establishing peace between the Five Nations. And, at least for a while, that is exactly what The Constitution of the Five Nations did. Cortes and an the unknown Aztec wrote about their perspectives about the battle in Tenochtitlan to defend their honor and persuade the people of tomorrow to believe in their story. Thomas Paine published Common Sense to ease public opinion about whether or not the colonists were still loyal to the British king. Believe or not, the colonists’ views about being loyal the the king soon changed after. Jefferson and the rest of the committee that drafted the declaration did so because they wanted to express the convictions in the minds and hearts of the American people. And before they knew it, they were fighting in the famous American Revolution.

Long and short of it all, these documents did exactly what they had hoped to do. In the long run, they make the people of today look back at the story of yesterday, and still install some form of opinion into modern day society. And I know that one day, someone just might look back at this blog, and shape their perspective upon my opinion.