What Hath God Wrought?
The Invention of the Telegraph
Presentation by Ben Sulser,
Article by Daniel Walker Howe, Professor of
American History at Oxford University and the
University of California, Los Angelos.
Why was the invention of the telegraph a
revolution in communication (accroding to Howe)?
-The telegraph's invention allowed, for the first time in
World History, for messages to be sent faster than a man
on horseback.
-The telegraph lines were easy to build and spread, ensuring
that even remote and removed farmsteads could now
recieve the latest information.
-The rapid messaging system sped up and transformed the
economy of both the United States and the world,
spreading globilization.
In What context did Morse invent his
Telegraph?
-The mid 1840's were a period of migration- both from
European countries, and a push for westward expansion
("Manifest Destiny").
-Railroads began to connect and criss-cross the country,
bringing people and goods across the Nation in increasingly
shorter times.
-Ties with Mexico are strained as the Santa Fe trade is
closed.
Who was involved in the invention of the
Telegraph?
-Professor Samuel F.B. Morse- The cheif inventor and the man
credited with the invention, he formulated the idea of the
telegraph, and built the first working prototype in 1837, although,
due to an econimic disaster, was not formally recognized until 1844.
-Joseph Henry, Professor of Chemistry at University of New Yorkprovided assistance with using an electrical circuit to boost a signal,
and invented a relay system for long-distance signals.
-Ezra Cornell, Morse's construction engineer- Solved the dilemma
of spreading the telegraph lines by mounting the wires on tall poles
and trees, spreading lines across the U. S. and inventing the
telegraph pole.
Contributions by others:
Telegraph Pole
Telegraph Relay
What was the lasting impact of
Morse's work?
1. Telegraph lines opened and spread along the newly-built
railroads, ensuring fast and stable means of communication
anywhere along these avenues of transportation- eventually,
across the Atlantic Ocean (1866)
2. The Morse code used in Telegraphs would be used to
send simple signals and transmissions rapidly- extensivley
used in navies and aircraft worldwide, continuing through
the modern era, primarily with the use of radios .
3. Even after the telegraph passed into obsoleteness, the
telegraph poles themselves would be modified to carry
telophone wires, electricity, and internet cables.
Applications of the telegraph
Field telegraph issued to U.S.
soldiers in WW1
Telegraph relays at a train
station in England, 1909.
What evidence supports Howe's
thesis?
-The newly built telegraph systems could relay messages in
under a few minutes to virtually anywhere connected to a
telegraph line- transatlantic communication now only took 2
hours per message, a then-unheard of speed.
-Corrospondents for Newspapers, another spreading
invention, could send reports and messages from miles away
to the local news print, facilitating the spread of
information.
-Farmers and bankers now had acess to far-off and
international prices of goods, contributing to the industrial
change in the 1840's.
Telegraph Lines in 1853
Telegraph Lines in 1891
What are arguments against Howe's
thesis?
- Telegraphs, though they could send messages extremley
quickly, required a skilled operator that knew Morse code
and could read- these were not acessible to illiterate,
uneducated majority of Americans.
- Charles Wheatstone, an English inventor, developed his
own electrical telegraph independently from Morse in the
same time period.
-The steam printing press, also invented in 1943, greatly
contributed to the spread of information by allowing
newspapers, magazines, books, documents and even
telegrams to be printed quickly and in great quantities.
Sources
-Daniel Walker Howe, What hath God wrought (published in
American Heritage magazine, volume 59, No. 4)
-Dageuerrotype by Mathew Brady, around 1845.
-Telegraph reproduction from American Museum of Radio and
Technology
- http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/sfbmhtml/sfbmhome.html
(Library of Congress Website)
-Telegraph pole picture taken at Yuma, Arizona.
-Telegraph maps from the website www.telegraph-history.org
-Robert A. Divine, America Past and Present.