THE TELEGRAPH: SAMUEL MORSE FACILITATES LONG-DISTANCE COMMUNICATION DURING THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION - BY: WILLIAM CAMPBELL, DYLAN DIGANGI, JOEL ...
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The Telegraph: Samuel Morse
Facilitates Long-Distance
Communication during the Industrial
Revolution
By: William Campbell, Dylan DiGangi, Joel Indipiginja and Ariel Navon
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Thesis: The telegraph was one of the most important inventions in the 19th century, as
it completely revolutionized long-distance communication. Before the telegraph,
communication was very ineffective for the growing industrialized world. These
developing countries required a machine that satisfied the high demand for instant
communication, and consequently, Samuel Morse invented the telegraph. Although the
telegraph caused unintentional consequences, it changed the way people communicated,
allowing the world to run more effectively and setting the precedent for communication
today.
Captions:
A Portrait of Samuel Morse 1850 (Time.com)
A picture of a Telegraph from 1844 (“Telegraph,” Britannica.com)
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“The telegraph was a revolutionary technology back in the mid 1800s. A main significance
[of the telegraph] is that it is the first time communication and transportation were separate.
You had to transport messages by Pony Express, by boat, which were incredibly inefficient
and incredibly slow.” (Interview- Ted Glasser, Communications Professor at Stanford)
Cities were miles away from each other so rapid communication was necessary during this time of
mass production and urbanization. Many inventors in industrial powerhouse countries such as the
U.K, U.S, and Germany began working on a device that would allow for instant communication.
Captions:
Four men delivering letters for the United States Postal Service (Timeline.com)
Pony Express messenger 1861 (History.com)
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Left Bottom Panel Text “Samuel Finley Breese Morse was born in Charlestown, Massachusetts, on April 27, 1791…Samuel graduated from Yale College in 1810. He wished to pursue a career in art.” (Encyclopedia of World Biography) Morse first discovered the need for quicker communication in 1825 after he arrived home from Washington D.C. to find his wife, Lucretia, already buried. Morse did receive a letter that she had passed, but by the time the letter was sent and received, it was too late. After years of experimenting and receiving funds from the government, Morse finally made the successful attempt in 1844 of sending a telegram from the Supreme Court building in Washington D.C. to Baltimore. "If the presence of electricity can be made visible in any part of the circuit," [Morse] said, "I see no reason why intelligence may not be transmitted instantaneously by electricity." (“Samuel Morse and the Telegraph” by Neil Schlager and Josh Lauer)
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“...the telegraph freed communication from the constraints of geography. The telegraph, then, not only
altered the relation between communication and transportation; it also changed the fundamental ways in
which communication was thought about.” (Technology and Ideology: The Case of the Telegraph by James
W. Carey)
“...the untimely death of his young wife...marked the death of his hopes and ambitions as an artist. He was
stunned.” (Samuel F.B. Morse: His Letters and Journals, Volume 2 Page 30)
Captions:
A portrait of Samuel Morse from 1840 (Biography.com)
Samuel Morse’s concept of the telegraph from his original notebook
(Samuel F.B. Morse: His Letters and Journals, Volume 2)
Initial diagram of the “Original Telegraph” from Morse’s journal(Library of Congress)Middle Top Panel Picture
Middle Top Panel Text Text: The telegraph allowed people to quickly learn about changes in the stock market and could send money around the world instantly. The telegraph also allowed railroads to create arrival and departure schedules to eliminate crashes and ensure safety. Quotes: “The telegraph proved especially well suited for transmitting time-sensitive information such as market reports and shipping information.” Encyclopedia of the United States in the Nineteenth Century by Paul Finkerman, 2001) “Manufacturers, financiers, and other businessmen could communicate directly and distantly with customers and agents.” (“Telegraph” by Sonia Benson) “The telegraph allowed papers to publish the facts of news events soon after they happened.” (“Telegraph” by Sonia Benson) “The telegraph system in America is eminently characteristic of the national mind. At its very birth, it became the handmaiden of commerce.” (“Business Demand and the Development of the Telegraph in the United States” by Du Boff, Richard B. from 1980).
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Quotes:
“The invention of the stock ticker with telegraph technology allowed the investment industry to grow on Wall Street
in New York and elsewhere.” (“Telegraph” by Sonia Benson)
“Railroads constructed their own telegraph lines to allow train schedules to work more efficiently.” (“Telegraph” by
Sonia Benson)
“The electrical telegraph fascinated the public when it was first developed. It quickly became a symbol of modern
progress and American ingenuity.” (Interview- Josh Lauer, Communication Professor at UNH)
Citations:
Telegraph messages transmitted (1870-1920)
A picture of a railroad station telegrapher at work from a website called the Museum of Yesterday (“A railroad station telegrapher at
work,” Museum of Yesterday)
Submarine and land telegraph lines in 1865 (The Atlantic Telegraph)
Submarine and land telegraph lines in 1901 (A.B.C. Telegraphic Code 5th Edition)Middle Bottom Panel Picture
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Text: In the Civil War, the telegraph allowed Union field commanders to communicate important
information with generals miles away. While Morse might have not intended for his invention to be used
in war, the telegraph’s capabilities were key factors in the North’s ultimate victory over the South. The
invention was also used most notably in the Crimean War and World War I.
Quote: "Hardly a day intervened when General Grant did not know the exact state of facts with me, more
than fifteen hundred miles off, as the wires ran." (David Hochfelder, “The Telegraph: Essential Civil War
Curriculum”, 2012)
“The military telegraph also proved valuable on several occasions as an operational and tactical tool on the
battlefield, allowing commanders to remain in constant touch with subordinates and to react quickly to
changing conditions.”(David Hochfelder, “The Telegraph: Essential Civil War Curriculum”, 2012)
Citations:
Soldiers using the telegraph during the Civil War 1864 (History.com)
World War I Soldiers using the telegraph during battle (eandt.theiet.org)
Abraham Lincoln using the Telegraph 1907 (Charles M. Relyea, History.com)Middle Bottom Panel Text pg2 Quotes: “The United States Military Telegraph Service (USMT) handled some 6.5 million messages during the war and built 15,000 miles of line.” (David Hochfelder) “During the battle of Spotsylvania in the Wilderness Campaign of May 1864, Major General George Gordon Meade used the telegraph to reinforce Major General Winfield Scott Hancock’s II Corps after it had come under heavy Confederate counterattack. Stanton relied on the military telegraph to monitor the actions of generals in the field, and Lincoln spent countless hours in the War Department telegraph office adjoining Stanton’s office.” (David Hochfelder, “The Telegraph: Essential Civil War Curriculum”, 2012) “During WWI, electric telegraphs were used throughout the war, on both sides. They were used to communicate from the front line trenches to the officers, and from nation to nation via telegraph lines throughout Europe and across the Atlantic, telegraph machines allowed governments and their leaders to instantly receive information on troop movements, battle outcomes, and other crucial information.”(Historian from The National Museum of the Marine Corps)
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Right Top Panel Text Text: Morse received government funding that allowed him to build infrastructure, such as telegraph wires. This laid the foundation for government involvement in future mass-communication technology. For example, Joe Biden’s plan to increase 5G networks across the nation utilizes government funding, similar to the telegraph. In our opinion, the creation of the telegraph was advantageous because it allowed for the growth of technology and knowledge in a growing civilization. For instance, it had an influence in the telephone with its above ground wires and also the internet by creating a sense of a nationwide communication web. Quote: "We all know that modern technologies are what made a truly global economy possible; but it turns out that the key enabling technologies were the steam engine and the telegraph." (Paul Krugman, Nobel Prize winning American Economist)
Right Top Panel Text pg 2 Quotes: “If Congress would but pass the bill of $30,000 before them, there would be no difficulty. There is no difficulty in the scientific or mechanical part of the matter; that is a problem solved. The only difficulty that remains is obtaining funds, which Congress can furnish, to carry it into execution.” (Samuel F.B. Morse: His Letters and Journals, Volume 2 Page 167) “These Funds... which calls for investments to retain our scientific and technological edge, build secure 21st century digital infrastructure (including secure 5G networks), and partner with democratic friends and allies. Investments in these Funds will also enable the development and deployment of an Open RAN approach to network standardization for nationwide 5G (and successor) wireless capabilities.” (Chairman Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA)) “One could see it as the first element in a communications revolution which was to define the 20th century. It is important to recognize the completion of a global telegraphic network as a precursor to the internet.” (Interview - Nick Cull, Communication Professor at USC)
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Citations:
A rotary telephone from 1937 (yesteryearessentials.com)
IPhone 11 being used in 2019 (Business Insider)
“Aged Telegraph Lines” in Boonton, New Jersey (Michael William Sullivan, DeviantArt)
Modern telephone and 5G tower 2019 (circlenews.org)Right Bottom Panel Picture
Right Bottom Panel Text Text: Like many other communication scientists, Samuel Morse did not predict the unintentional consequences from the telegraph. While it did facilitate communication to unprecedented levels, hacking and stealing information would not have been possible in modern communication devices if the telegraph was not invented. Quotes: “From a broader perspective [of the Zimmermann Telegram], however, one that focuses on the technology of the telegraph, the incident reveals the hazards of electric communication. The telegraph, like all remote communication systems, is vulnerable to hacking and eavesdropping. Unlike documents or verbal messages, which can be protected to some extent against prying eyes and ears, the sender of an electric message has no way to know if someone else intercepts it along the way.” (Interview- Josh Lauer Communication Professor at UNH)
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“In terms of dangers, such as viruses, fraud or identity theft, I don't think we were thinking
about that at all when we got started. If we had been worried about that, the net might have
been better today, but we might not have even got there.” (Bob Kahn, Computer Scientist
credited with the invention of the Internet)
“Despite the current furore over hacking, which is only a modern term for bugging,
eavesdropping, signals intercept, listening-in, tapping, monitoring, there has never been
guaranteed privacy since the earliest optical telegraphs to today’s internet,” Packer says.
“There never was and never will be privacy.” (Thomas McMullan, The Guardian)
Citations:
Encoded text of the Zimmermann Telegram from January 16, 1917 (National Archives, Washington, D.C.)Map Panel Picture
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Quotes: ‘“...I use the words of inspiration in ascribing honor and praise to Him to whom
first of all and most of all it is preeminently due. ‘Not unto us, not unto us, but to God be all
the glory.’ Not what hath man, but ‘What hath God wrought?’” - Samuel Morse (Samuel
F.B. Morse: His Letters and Journals, Volume 2 Page 472)
Citations:
A picture of the first telegraph message from the Smithsonian Museum 1844
Artist's portrayal of Morse sending the first telegraph message 1844 (“What Hath God Wrought!” Reformation.org)You can also read
