Morse’s Telegraph
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Compare and contrast Morse’s telegraph and
other contributing inventions and decide
which one was the most important to the
Industrial Revolution.
Be able to signal and understand a message
in Morse Code after completing the activity.
Note that underlined words are the answers
to the worksheet.
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Invented by Claude Chappe
Used flag-based alphabet
Required a line of sight
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Invented by William Sturgeon
Laid foundations for future creations
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Used Sturgeon’s electromagnet to experiment
with other ideas
Sent an electric current through wire causing
a bell to ring
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Was a professor of chemistry interested in
Joseph Henry’s creation
Published article reflecting on Henry’s
creation about a possible way to create an
electric telegraph
Article was crucial to Morse’s invention
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Idea to create telegraph came to him when
returning from Europe in 1832 when he
understood how the electromagnet worked
He built his first telegraph out of basic
materials including a picture frame, a table,
and lead pieces.
This worked but was ignored
He had to wait twelve years before trying again
◦ He was in debt and had no food
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He did not give up
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Failed as a painter
Turned his attention to the telegraph again
He was still very poor and had to make the
most of his materials
He found small pieces of wire and tied them
together
Demonstrated his progress in the fall of 1837
◦ He strung ten miles of wire around a classroom
◦ He invited business men who could possibly invest
in his invention
◦ No one liked it except Alfred Vail
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Alfred Vail became his partner and was
crucial to Morse’s success
They worked together to improve the
telegraph
First model used marker to record message
Next model used notched metal rod to
transfer messages
Eventually, they changed the code and
finished with a series of dots and dashes
◦ Often used letters such as vowels had shorter codes
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Asked Congress for money
◦ Request was approved
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A young women notified him of Congress’s
support
◦ Morse let the young lady choose the first message
to be sent over wires
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Message was sent on May 24, 1844
◦ “What hath God wrought” was sent from Numbers
23:23 in the Bible
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Message was received in Baltimore by Alfred
Vail
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People were more interested in Morse and his
telegraph
It was now easy to send detailed messages from
one person to another quickly
Later, translators worked to convert Morse code
into words
◦ A skilled translator could transmit 40-50 words per
minute
◦ An automatic transmission was
developed later to transmit
twice as many words per
minute
Telegraph lines connected
Europe and America
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Had a great influence on businesses
◦ They could communicate easily with other
businesses
◦ As a result, they could connect with each other and
eventually even merge together to become one big
business which would make even more money
◦ Thy could work faster and more efficiently
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The electric telegraph was a creation that
greatly influenced the Industrial Revolution
because it changed the lives of many people
by providing machinery that could help one
communicate.
Before this, people had to use flag signals
which took a long time, were inconvenient,
and made detailed messages impossible.
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Samuel Morse was a determined inventor
◦ He never gave up even when in debt
◦ He was focused and knew he could create an
electric telegraph
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He successfully used the experiments of
others to invent an electric telegraph that was
quick and convenient
◦ Used William Sturgeon’s electromagnet
◦ Improved Joseph Henry’s progress in creating the
telegraph
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When I compared and contrasted the
inventions of Joseph Henry, William Sturgeon,
and Samuel Morse, I thought that William
Sturgeon’s creation of the electromagnet was
the most important since Henry’s and
Morse’s inventions could not have been
created without this knowledge.
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Step 1: Break up into groups of two or
threes.
Step 2: Using your hand, tap a simple
message one the desk to one another using
the following chart. Lift your hand quickly for
a dot and leave your hand on the desk for a
dash. For our purposes, slide your hand
across the desk for a space in between words.
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“Semaphore Cartoon 1.” Cartoonstock.com.
Web. 26 March 2010.
“The History of Radio at a Glance.”
Spacetoday.org. Web. 26 March 2010.
Geary, Cindy Waszak. “First Love.” Cindy Waszak
Geary Photography. Web. 26 March 2010
“Leonard Gale’s Pictures.” 123People.com. Web.
26 March 2010.
H., Richard. “Alfred Vail.” Findagrave.com.
Web. 26 March 2010.
Cooper, Rachel. “Morse-Vail Telegraph Key.”
About.com. Web. 26 March 2010.