The Telegraph

The first idea of the telegraph began with Samuel F.B. Morse in 1832.  It first occurred when he was aboard a ship sailing from Europe.  During this time he worked on trying to send a coded message over a wire to help ships make tighter turns.  This code began to be what’s known as morse code.  While at Yale, he grew a love for electricity.  Despite loving it in Yale, his knowledge of electricity came from is attempts with electrical equipment like batteries and magnets.  After learning some of the basics, he asked for help from his colleague Leonard D. Gale.  Gale was a chemist with some knowledge of electricity.  While Morse was the idea man, Gale put the idea to paper and pointed out some areas that could use work.  By 1837, he had enough material to use for a demonstration for the federal government.  However, during the Panic of 1837, he could not install it until it had blown over.  During that time, Morse went to England to file for an international patent.  By 1843, the United States of America had finally gotten out of their depression and could now start construction of the White House’s telegraph.  During this time they planned to have the wires travel underground, however the pipes had defective insulation.  However, they had to meet a strict deadline.  They decided to scrap the pipes and lay the wires overhead.  Right before the deadline, they were able to have the Supreme Court and a railroad station in Baltimore hooked up.  Overtime, the Telegraph was put in almost every important area, and they were able to connect the Americas and Europe together during Morse’s lifetime. 

Samuel Morse

There are many implications that came from the telegraph’s creation.  The first one was the ability to send messages at a near instantaneous rate.  The messages that could be sent at the rate that they do have implications of their own.  Firstly, the pony express was made irrelevant thanks to the messages.  The post offices were hooked up thanks to the telegraph.  The next thing that the messages did is it allowed ships, especially any cargo ships, to make micromovements while docking.  Another thing the telegraph did is that they were able to accurately determine train times. Other than the faster transmissions, they were used by the North during the Civil War.  This became one of the biggest things that contributed to them winning.  They also gave rise to the precursor to the telephone pole when replacing the faulty pipes with cheaper overhead strung lines.

The telegraph

Dillon, C. H. (1960). The Arrival of the Telegraph in 

Texas. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, 64(2), 200–211. http://www.jstor.org/stable/30236163

LEW, B., & CATER, B. (2006). The telegraph, co-ordination of tramp shipping, and growth in world             trade, 1870-1910. European Review of Economic History, 10(2), 147–173.                                             http://www.jstor.org/stable/41378439

Library of Congress. Invention of the telegraph : articles and essays : Samuel F. B. Morse papers at the       Library of Congress, 1793-1919 : digital collections : library of Congress. The Library of Congress.       https://www.loc.gov/collections/samuel-morse-papers/articles-and-essays/invention-of-the-                     telegraph/